On The Trail of Han Gak
by z-animatr
Summary: A month has passes since the final battle and Dart, Rebecca, Geitz, Wil and Farina and Karla are searching for Han Gak's hidden treasure. Contains WilxRebecca and FarinaxDart pairings. Chapter 9 is finally up!
1. Riddles and departure

Here it is… my first fic ever! Or at least the first chapter. I call it on the trail of Han Gak. It's about what Dart, Wil Geitz and Rebecca do after the final battle. It has a Wil/Rebecca pairing, but who knows what will come later, like Farina perhaps. Anyway enjoy! Oh I don't own Fire Emblem or any of the characters.

**Chapter 1 – Riddles and Departure**

A month had passed since Eliwood's band had defeated Nergal and most of the little army were still recuperating in an inn, which was really an old castle, on Valor Isle. Several of them had apparently vanished into thin air, and a few had left in search of fame and fortune, but Dart, Rebecca, Geitz and Wil were just starting their journey. They were out to find the legendary pirate king Han Gak's treasure.

Dart wanted to find the treasure, so he could establish himself as the new pirate king and then bury it again. Geitz was tagging along because he ha1d become good friends with Dart and also he believed this would help him _find_ himself. Rebecca just wanted to spend more time with her new big brother. Wil hoped to re-establish his friendship with Dart, but mostly he wanted to profess his love to Rebecca.

They had spent the last two weeks deciphering the riddles on the map.

-Last Night-

'"The treasure lies on the other side of the door that separates fire and water"' Dart read out slowly 'Well I'll be blowed if I know what that means!'

'What would a pirate know?' Geitz muttered. 'I'm just joking' he added after an angry look from Dart.

'This map was made by a pirate, for pirates' Dart said angrily 'hmm I gotta make one meself'

The four of them were sitting around a table in Dart's room, arguing about where to go.

'Well it could mean the Nabata desert, right big brother?' Rebecca suggested

'You know I think she's right' added Wil, blushing a little when Rebecca smiled at him.

'You mean that place Athos used to live?' Dart said 'I dunno, it don't sound like a pirate-y place'

'Where else could it be?' argued Wil

'It could mean Dragon's Gate' put it Geitz 'and the "hidden white fang…" that could be a dragon's right?'

'If it is then Arcadia would be the best place, you know the dragon town connected to the Nabata desert' Rebecca said

'Where'd you find out about that?' asked Dart

'I asked Eliwood and Louise' Rebecca said smiling

'Well how would we get to it, we don't where it is, you know I'm sure Lord Pent will take us' put in Geitz, answering his own question.

'I'm still thinkin' we should check Dragon's Gate first' argued Dart

'I'm sick of this place brother, and I'm sure the treasure's in the desert'

'Fine, Yarr!' growled Dart ''n don't use that look again'

'Yay!'

'How are we going to get there, it's a shame old Hawkeye left already' moaned Geitz, but really he was happy that he was going to go on a pirate ship again.

'I'll ask Lord Pent to come with us, with Lady Louise of course' suggested Rebecca and left

'Well I guess we should pack then' said Wil leaving

'Yeah'

Geitz rose leaving Dart staring at the map.

'Blasted Rebecca' he thought 'just 'cause I'm her brother…Yarr!'.

He got up and threw his stuff into a sack, a spare Killer Axe, a Tomahawk, a couple of Vulnaries, some clothes and blankets, his small money bag and a talisman (he wasn't very strong against magic).

Meanwhile Wil had finished packing (he only had a spare bow, clothes and a few sets of arrows) and was saying his goodbyes. Or at least he wanted to, but everyone was asleep except Vaida who was drinking in the lobby's side room. He decided to go to sleep too.

Rebecca was looking for Pent and Louise, but it was easier said than done considering that everyone was asleep or in their rooms. She decided to ask the innkeeper, who had returned to Valor as soon as he heard that Nergal had been defeated and bought the castle for a pittance. The innkeeper after offering Rebecca a drink, told her Pent and Louise's room number.

Having finally found their room Rebecca knocked on the door. There was a thump and a few moments of shuffling around before a messed up Pent opened the large wooden door.

'Hello Lord Pent, uhh I hope I didn't disturb you…' Rebecca trailed off spotting the slightly askew shirt with a couple of buttons undone.

'Not at all, Rebecca, how can I help you?' Pent said (lying, of course).

'Uhh well me and Dart err want to go to the urr the… Nabata Desert, so I was wondering whether you and Lady Louise wanted to travel with us, we could protect each other from bandits and the like' Rebecca said distracted by thoughts of what they were doing.

'Oh dear' Pent said apologetically 'I wasn't planning on returning for a long time, I'm going to continue my research with Louise. Sorry Rebecca I really can't come with you, but I'm sure you and Dart will be able to protect each other.'

'Oh well… Lord Pent, could you give us directions to Lord Athos' old house?' Pent was instantly suspicious.

'Why?'

'Well umm there's a treasure map…' Pent raised an eyebrow

'A treasure map?'

'Yes it's Dart's and the treasure is uhh near the castle, I'm-We're sure of it.'

'Well, if you're not going into the portal, and Hawkeye and his daughter will be there. Very well Rebecca I will write out the instructions on how to get there. See me tomorrow morning. Good luck.'

'Thank you Lord Pent'

'You're welcome Rebecca' He shut the door.

'Who was that?' asked Louise

'Rebecca… so where were we…'

-The Morning-

Dart woke up with a feeling of euphoria. _Yes we're leaving!_ He had rationalised going to Nabata in the night and was happy. Geitz was also in a state of ecstasy purely because he loved pirate ships and Fargus was still the only one who would take people to and from Valor Isle. Rebecca woke up to unfinished packing and grumbled to herself. Whereas Wil jumped out of bed and basically ran down to the lobby.

They met up in the lobby for breakfast, (Lowen had been employed as chef until one arrived), and they discussed their travelling plans. They decided to stock up on supplies at Badon. Then go through Laus and then to Ostia then to Nabata.

Rebecca went to where Pent was sitting.

'Good morning Lord Pent'

'Good morning Rebecca, I have those directions you wanted' He handed her a folded up piece of paper 'Are you leaving today?'

'Yes, sir, Dart spoke to Fargus today and he agreed to take us on the Davros in the afternoon.'

'Well good luck Rebecca, Give my luck to Dart also, it is just you two right?'

'Actually sir, Wil and Geitz are coming with us.'

'Well at least you will be well protected, good bye Rebecca, may we meet again'

'Goodbye Lord Pent.' Rebecca walked back to her table looking at the directions and bumped into Louise.

'Oh I'm really sorry Lady Louise'

'Don't worry about it Rebecca, you're going today aren't you? Good luck'

'Yes my lady, thankyou. Goodbye!'

'Goodbye'

After many such goodbyes and lunch the group were ready to leave. They boarded the ship at around 1 in the afternoon. The Davros was a well made made from various odds and ends from ships taken by the pirates. It was a wonder it was seaworthy and yet it could hold about 40 people and the crew. It even had a few separate rooms for guests.

They were greeted warmly by Fargus, well as warmly as a pirate could greet someone.

'Well if it isn't some of the ol' whelps! 'n Dart!' Fargus exclaimed happily 'Well mooncalves you want to go to Badon?'

'Hey Captain, yeah we wanna go to Badon' Dart said 'Can you take us?'

'We? Oh…of course I'll take you mooncalves, but Dart, I thought you were goin' to return to the crew?'

'Oh Cap'n I got something to do, but I will return one day'

'OK Dart, anyway, climb aboard!' They did, clambering up a ladder stretched from the pier to the boat. 'You came in great time mate, we're leaving in about 10 minutes.'

'Thankyou Captain' Rebecca mumbled

'Anytime mooncalf' Fargus said smiling 'One thing though, we'll spend tonight at sea, we'll arrive at Badon tomorrow noon'

'We don't mind at all, Captain' said Wil

'Great, the mess will be open for dinner at 8. hmm… let me show you to some rooms you can use.' They followed Fargus into the ship. As soon as they entered the hold Dart was swamped by cheering pirates.

'Dart's back!' was the main cheer echoing through the ship.

'Uhh mates, I'm not back yet' said Dart, shouting to make himself heard.

'Yer not stayin'?' one of the pirates said, indignant.

'No Paul not now, but I'll be back later'

'Who yer travelling with?

'This is Geitz, Wil and Rebecca.'

'Rebecca…'a pirate said, leering at her.

'Yeah Rebecca, my sister, so back off or else' Dart said menacingly, stressing the last two words.

'Geez Dart calm down, calm down, i's just nice to see a pretty girl.' Another pirate said leering at her again. Rebecca leaned away from him and her mouth twitched.

'Your rooms are these four OK?' broke in Fargus, handing them some keys

'Thankyou Captain' said Geitz 'I think you should pick a room.' He muttered to Rebecca. She walked over to the nearest door and went in, audibly locking it. They all went into their rooms and unpacked.

After spending most of the afternoon with his pirate chums, Dart decided to talk to Wil. He walked into the cramped room and sat down on the bed next to Wil.

'Hey Wil what'cha doing?'

'Nothing much Dan, err Dart'

'You were thinkin' about somethin', I could see it'

'I was thinking about Rebecca' Wil mumbled

'What!'

'I mean you know, the.. the pirates are eying her, I'm worried about her' '_Whew_' Wil thought '_That could have been bad_'

'Yeah you're right I'll warn her'

'Good…Was there anything else you wanted to talk about Dart?'

'Well yeah, I just wanted to ask, how did you spend the last few years?'

'Oh errm well, after you err disappeared at Badon I joined the Pheraen army as an archer. What happened to you?'

'I don't know, all I know is that Captain Fargus found me, bloody and limp on a pier, I owe him my life. When I was seen on the pier it was a holy day, no one could pick me up, but Fargus picked me up as soon as the day allowed him.'

'Oh…don't you remember our old village? At all?'

'I don't have any memories of my life more 'n five years back'

'I miss those days … so much, I was hoping that by talking to you I could get your memories back.'

'Sorry…'Dart got up and walked out of the room. He walked across the small passage and entered Rebecca's cramped room. She was sitting on her bed tightening a bowstring.

'Hello Rebecca'

'Hey big brother, call me sister'

'Okay…sister' She smiled 'I think you better stay in your room'

'Because of the pirates err others?'

'Yeah, I don't trust them'

'Don't worry, I have this' she pulled out a small handheld crossbow with a quiver of short arrows and grinned

'OK' Dart got up and left shaking his head. Rebecca followed him blowing out the small candles that lit the room and locking it. She walked out on to the deck to look at the setting sun ignoring the whistles of the pirates.

Wil sighed and left his room, thinking of finding Rebecca, but her room was locked. He decided to go out onto the deck and saw some green braids near the side of the ship.

'Hey Rebecca'

'Hi Wil, great sunset don't you think?'

'Uhh yeah…'

'So I take it you weren't out here for the sunset.'

'Well uhh yeah…no!' Rebecca giggled.

'So why are you here?'

'I just wanted to talk to you…about home.'

'Oh yeah I kinda miss it, but it is fun searching for treasure.'

'Yeah, well I just wanted to apologise.'

'Why?'

'For leaving home'

'Wil you've already been over this, you left because you wanted to earn money for your family'

'I know but I should have been at the village to protect you…and the village, I mean what if our village was attacked!'

'Wil, don't be upset, what you did was honourable.'

'Thanks… It's dark now, let's go inside.'

Yay!... that was boring. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting or at least more bearable. Please R&R!


	2. Back to Badon

Second chapter! Part of this is a little dark, so be warned. I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the characters, just in case you wanted to sue.

**Chapter 2 – Back to Badon**

-On board the Davros-

"Thanks… It's dark now, let's go inside" said Wil, hoping what he said wasn't going to be taken the wrong way.

"Yes, you're right" replied Rebecca "When did the Captain say dinner was?".

"Eight" Wil pulled a small watch from his pocket and glanced at it. "We still have an hour".

"Good" They walked across the deck, Rebecca ignoring the pirates who started at her. Wil couldn't help but notice and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't these pirates bother you at all?" Wil asked angrily.

"I just ignore them" Rebecca said coolly "Besides, if any of them touched me I'd shoot their hand." Wil shrugged and continued walking. They met Geitz in one of the cramped passages.

"Hi Geitz" Rebecca greeted

"Hey… I'm just going to the mess for some ale, I'm pretty sure your brother's there too"

"Okay, have fun I guess…" said Wil, a bit sarcastically. They squeezed past Geitz and walked towards their rooms.

"Uhh Wil, do you want to see the bow I picked up at Dragon's Gate?" Rebecca asked, a little nervously.

"Sure" They walked into the tiny room and lit a few small candles. Rebecca walked over to a small trunk next to the bed and pulled out the magnificent Rienfleche. It was made from a shiny flexible blue metal and had a small red gem at the front.

"Wooah" Wil gasped. The bow exuded power in the flickering light.

"One of Nergal's morphs had it…" Rebecca trailed off. She didn't want to go into killing them. Wil had been posted outside the castle to make sure they weren't attacked from behind and missed everything that happened.

On the other side of the ship a group of pirates were playing a loud card game and drinking.

"I'm out" one of them shouted "Dart, I's your bet, don wanna lose s'more gold?"

"Stow it, Jerme" Dart replied, pushing a few coins to the centre of the table "Beat that Paul!". Geitz walked in to the racket and looked around, spotting Dart a few metres away, thoroughly involved in a game of cards. He grabbed a clean pitcher from a side table and half-filled it with some light ale.

"Hey Dart" He said. He couldn't hear himself over the noise so he raised his voice "HEY DART!" Geitz shouted, but still Dart couldn't hear over the pirates shouting in his ears. Geitz sighed and grabbed two more cups, filled them and put them on a tray. He took one more look at Dart grinning at his cards and left.

"That must have been some battle" Wil said "Is it true you had to fight a dragon?" Rebecca nodded slowly. The conversation, to her distaste, had turned to the final battle, the Rienfleche lying on top of the chest.

Wil saw the sadness in her eyes and dropped the topic. They stood in silence for a second when the boat suddenly rocked sideways, throwing Wil into Rebecca and both of them onto the bed.

Now Wil was lying in a weird position over Rebecca, looking into her sparkling green eyes. As he gazed into her eyes, he felt a fluttering in his stomach and tried not to blush.

Rebecca on the other hand, was finding that she kinda enjoyed being there, looking at his deep brown eyes.

"They look like vats of chocolate" she thought. She saw him blush and realising the awkwardness of the situation blushed herself.

Just then, Geitz, who had slammed into a wall when the boat rocked, stumbled to Rebecca's room and opened the door, to find Wil lying on top of Rebecca about to kiss.

"Holy Saint Elimine" he gasped, almost dropping the tray again

"This is a bad time" he mumbled, ignoring the guilty/innocent looks Wil and Rebecca were giving him. He walked out of the room, grimacing at the awkward situation he just made.

Wil immediately jumped off Rebecca and straightened his tunic nervously. She also hurriedly got up, while Geitz leaned against a wall and banged his head. Wil and Rebecca glanced around the room, taking occasional glances at each other. They maintained this silence for what felt like half an hour, before they both decided to break the silence, talking at once.

"Maybe we…" "Let's g…" They broke off nervously not wanting to talk over each other

"Nice one Geitz" Wil thought furiously "He really ruined that moment".

"Wil's kinda cute when he's embarrassed" Rebecca thought, taken aback even as she thought this.

"Let's go have dinner" Wil said, checking his watch. It was a quarter to eight, but he didn't mind being early, not in this situation at least.

"Yeah, sure" They left the room with their lanterns, blowing out the candles and putting the bow back in the chest. Geitz was still leaning against a wall next to his room and he looked up when they approached.

"Uhhh, do you want a drink?" He asked.

"Yeah thanks" Said Wil, taking one of the pitchers. Rebecca declined and they walked towards the mess together, well Wil and Rebecca walked together and Geitz walked behind them.

They entered the mess together and looked around, spotting Dart and a few other pirates jammed in around one table. The mess was easily the largest room in the ship, as the pirates' sleeping quarters were divided up according to their crew system. It was half full, so Wil, Geitz and Rebecca sat on an empty table near the door.

Wil made sure that Rebecca was sitting in between him and Geitz and took a few sips of the pitcher of ale. Dart, however, was happily chatting to his fellow pirates about the going-s on of the ship. Even though it wasn't very interesting he simply enjoyed being with pirates again.

"So, 'e tells me 'e does tha' the barrel was leakin' before 'e came along!" One of them shouted to some uproarious laughter.

"Ah Dale…" Paul (One of the few, slightly more intelligent pirates) said, wiping a tear from his eye. He noticed Dart looking a bit serious and thought of one of the questions he wanted to ask.

"Dart, what happened on that Isle anyway? I mean you came back all serious like, and you're a lot stronger now." It was true, Dart now spent a lot of time thinking about his past life, what was he like? Who were his parents? And so on. He was also a lot stronger, having left as a low level pirate he was now a medium level berserker second in strength and skill only to Fargus himself.

Dart decided to skip the various small skirmishes which occurred while he was in Eliwood's Elibe-tastic militia and focused on the final battle. He started to tell the story when dinner was brought out. So he continued the story while everyone was eating.

Dart had just reached the part when he was about to grab Hector's Armads and slay the dragon (which never happened of course), when he noticed Captain Fargus in the doorway listening and Geitz, Wil and Rebecca on another table, also listening. So he decided to go with the truth, and told the company how Eliwood finished off the dragon with Durandal and Athos dying.

The moment Dart finished his involved retelling of the final battle Fargus strode into the room.

"I've heard word of a storm around Badon. It's gonna hit us tonight, so we're going to drop the anchor. This will mean we're only gonna get to Badon at around 3 in the afternoon. Mates, I think you should get some rest if we're gonna have to bail water. G'Night" Fargus announced. A collective "Yarr, Cap'n" was echoed through the hall. Fargus smiled and headed for the deck.

Wil and Rebecca quickly finished their pale sludge-y mixture and headed off to their rooms. Geitz decided to drink a little more ale with Dart and some other pirates who didn't want to sleep yet. Outside a pouring rain began.

-Somewhere between Badon and Santaruz-

The rain was bucketing down, the clouds were rumbling and lightning lit the battle ground intermittently, casting eerie shadows of the fighters all over the place. A brigand ran to a tent and began to cut it down, when a lance entered his back. He was dead before he hit the ground.

A little way away, a nomad rode over to another tent and fired an arrow in, smiling savagely as he heard a scream from within. A girl with dark hair jumped out of the tent. The nomad pulled another arrow from a quiver on his back, keeping his eyes on the girl, but he was too slow. As the lightning flashed again, the girl was right in front of him slashing viciously with a long blade. The nomad's neck burst open and he fell off the horse, staring serenely at the sky in a puddle of water and his own blood.

"Farina!" The girl screamed, her dark eyes scanning the battlefield for the Falcoknight. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Farina fly down and stab an assassin in the side before he could attack. The attack however had brought her to the attention to a few snipers a few metres away. The snipers weren't as effective as usual, as the rain sent the arrows a lot lower than normal, but at a medium range they were still as deadly.

"Farina!" she noticed the snipers "Farina watch out!" The dark-haired girl screamed at her friend. The snipers twirled arrows in their hands preparing for a critical hit, as the girl ran towards her friend.

"No! No! Behind you!" She screamed again, as Farina turned to look at her. The snipers had finished twirling and were clicking their arrows in place. A fighter ran after the girl, but was too slow. The girl was running so fast she almost disappeared. She unsheathed her sword again and it trailed behind her. She jumped as she ran past a nearby warrior, her blade cutting a deep dark gash across his chest. She was still running, but knew it was too late.

She jumped at one of the snipers, slicing his head right off his body, but they had fired already. She felt rage course through her body and, while still watching the path of the arrows, killed two more snipers by swinging her sword behind her.

The arrows whistled through the air. Two of them dropped lower, hit by raindrops, but the other three held their course.

Farina had heard the screams, and saw her friend running towards her, but didn't understand. Then she saw her friend jump at some snipers and realised that they were about to shoot. She instinctively made Murphy rise, but he was too slow. She remembered just at the last moment the amulet she had around her neck and whirled it around.

A Delphi Shield. It stopped the arrows in their tracks, saving her. The dark-haired girl sighed with relief, then realised she was still in the midst of a battle.

"Karla!" Farina shouted. Karla (for of course it was she) whirled around and killed the remaining two snipers easily, their twin spurts of blood coating her sword. The two friends joined together and sliced their way out of the group of attackers. Farina pulled out a sword (Karla had been teaching her to use one) and stabbed a warrior through the chest. Karla disappeared behind another warrior, and for a moment it seemed as though five Karla's were attacking him at the same time. Needless to say he fell into bloody pieces after her critical attack.

After a few minutes the two were running/flying away from the bandits. They went back to the tents to see their leader, a hero by the name of Karric, get struck by a Luna spell from a nearby shaman. The black orbs crushed him and burnt him. Farina and Karla looked away and hid behind a large tent. Farina dismounted.

"I think it's time to leave" Farina said

"Where to? And what will we do?" Karla asked hopelessly. Farina thought for a moment, the she brightened.

"Let's go after Dart's treasure thing!" Farina suggested happily. Karla just stared at her. "I talked to Dart when we were in Eliwood's army. He had this treasure map, I thought it was just a hoax or something, but he really seemed to believe in it. He wouldn't even sell it"

"Okay, I guess. But where do we go?" Karel said resignedly.

"Well I'm pretty sure it was the Nabata Desert, but to be sure let's go to Badon"

"Why Badon?"

"Because it's the town we passed through to get to Valor, so we're bound to come across one of the old members of the army. Oh and it has an arena so we can earn some more money" Explained Farina

"Alright" Karla replied. Farina instructed Murphy to stay where she was and they ran into the tent area. They ran for their tents and dived in. After a minute they ran back, each carrying a bag of their most important belongings. They climbed onto Murphy and flew off, dodging a flux spell.

Okay, so they're not really at Badon yet, but I decided to finish it here, otherwise the rest will be scrappy.

**To the Reviewers**

**Lemurian Girl: **Thanks for the tip, Sure I'll put in Farina/Dart, but it won't be your regular romance.

**Manamage:** Thanks, but I still think that first chapter was a bit boring, because I focused on character development.

It's nice to know that someone likes my stories, you inspired me to continue writing.

Chapter 3 will have the rest of the trip to Badon, plus what I meant for chapter 3. Please R&R!


	3. Sick of the Davros Back to Badon Part 2

About the last chapter… I finished it halfway through because I had some more ideas for the chapter that couldn't fit into one chapter. This chapter will be dealing more with the current pairing (Wil/Rebecca) than treasure hunting. I don't own Fire Emblem or any of the characters.

**Chapter 3 – Sick of the Davros (Back to Badon part 2)**

-On board the Davros-

Outside the storm had truly begun. The rain was pounding the deck and thunder was echoing around outside. The huge waves were slamming against the side of the ship, moving it, even though it was at anchor. The sails had been taken down and the external doors were shut to stop the ship from flooding. Even so some water was seeping in, and the dampness had spread throughout the ship.

The musty smell was even worse than before, as there was little airflow and fifty or so pirates. Rebecca rubbed her nose and lit a candle beside her bed, before taking off her leather vest and changing into a thin dress. She slid under the covers of the low thin bed, blowing out the candle and sighed, thinking about what happened.

She blushed with embarrassment just thinking about it, before a particularly large wave hit the side of the boat, tilting it dramatically. Rebecca slid off her bed onto the floor with a thump and gingerly picked herself up, getting tangled in the bed covers. She lit the candle again and detached herself from the blankets. After a few minutes she got back in, having made sure that they were tight enough to hold her in place if the boat rocked again.

In the next room Wil was groaning in pain, having slipped off onto his light armour, bending the shoulder plate.

"Whoever put the bed sideways should be fed to a hungry Wyvern" He thought angrily, rubbing his arm. He got back into bed, throwing the blankets back over himself. However he made sure to move his armour first, so when he inevitably fell off again, he wouldn't hurt himself as much.

-An hour later-

After falling off for a fourth time, Rebecca was at her wit's end, but she had an idea. She found two short lengths of rope in her chest, pulled the thin mattress off the bed and tied herself on to it. She shuffled over to the end of the bed and jumped onto it. She looked up sleepily at the low ceiling for a few seconds, before she realised she had forgotten to blow out the candle.

Wil, on the other hand, had just pulled the mattress off the bed and fell asleep on the floor.

Rebecca just stared at the candle, sleepily, wondering whether she could stop it burning using her eyes. Stop burning. Burning…

BURNING! Rebecca opened her eyes quickly, smoke was thick in the air and it made her eyes sting.

"Oh Elimine!" she thought frantically "Did the candle fall off and set the ship on fire!" She looked up again and finally realised that she wasn't in the ship at all, in fact she was in her old bedroom. Rebecca slid off her bed, realizing she was dressed in a short skirt and tunic. She stared stupidly down for a minute before the door suddenly burst into flames.

Rebecca screamed and fell back onto her bed, clutching at the sheets frantically. She pulled a few sheets around her, to protect her from the heat, and shakily got to her feet. Just in time to see Wil burst through the flame-filled doorway shouting her name.

Rebecca just blinked, not thinking at all, studying him for a moment. From his artfully messed-up hair, to his white shorts and blue boots. Her eyes lingered on his open shirt, which exposed a slightly muscular chest. Her gaze hovered on his chest a little too long and Wil, who had stopped shouting, noticed her staring at him.

Rebecca blushed a little, but Wil didn't say anything and wrapped his arms around her, in a passionate embrace. She almost jumped at his touch, but soon found herself enjoying it.

Rebecca's mind was just as stunned as her body was.

"What is going on?" she thought "I'm pretty sure Wil likes me, but, uhh…" One of her hands was trapped between their two bodies and it was touching Wil's chest. Rebecca's fingers moved of their own accord roaming around a small patch of his chest.

"He's so warm" she thought

"Well of course he is" a more rational part of her mind said "He did just jump through fire." The fact that he jumped through fire just to rescue her made him so much more appealing in her eyes.

They looked at each other for a moment, Rebecca basking in his warmth until she realised he was saying something.

"Ahh his voice… wait what's he saying?" She thought.

"Come on, let's go" Wil said. He picked her up bodily and held her in his arms, like a bride and groom. Rebecca squeaked a little, but tensed when she realised they'd be going out the way he came in. She huddled into his chest and pulled his shirt around her as much as she could, also putting her braids in front of herself.

"Wow" she thought "I didn't know he was so strong"

She held her breath as he jumped through the broken doorway again, trying to become as light as possible. They landed heavily on the other side, though they were still upright.

Wil ran through the burning house, dodging burning parts of the ceiling. He ran to the front door and kicked it open. When he jogged out into the open Rebecca finally saw what was going on and her eyes widened with shock and horror.

The whole village was on fire, undoubtedly started by the bandits who were currently smashing the town hall with huge hammers. A lone bandit spotted them and ran after them, but Rebecca, who had found a bow strapped to Wil's back, shot him in the chest.

Wil continued to run the length of the small village without putting Rebecca down. Only when they reached the relative safety of the town gates did he put Rebecca down.

"Wil, what about our families?" Rebecca asked frantically.

"They decided to meet up in the woods, next to the river" He said. They continued to run towards the river, but stopped for a breather on the edge of the woods. After a minute or so of silence, Wil walked up to Rebecca and hugged her again. However this time there was no passion. They were both thinking of their village, their neighbours, their possessions. Most of which they had just lost.

A tear ran down Rebecca's cheek and Wil, surprisingly, wiped it away with a careful finger. Rebecca looked up at Wil noting the sadness in those beautiful brown eyes. He suddenly kissed her, and she went a little red, but returned the kiss.

They held the kiss for what felt like an hour, though it was really more like a few minutes. When they broke apart Rebecca noticed that Wil seemed to be getting a bit blurry and blinked.

When she opened her eyes all she could see was brown. She was face down on the floor, a particularly large wave having knocked the mattress off the bed. She struggled and untied herself, rising from the floor.

"Do I really like Wil?" she asked herself "I mean he's nice and kinda cute, but I thought Raven was pretty cute too"

"But then again Wil was your childhood friend and he's so selfless".

"Grrh, I have to stop thinking about Wil".

The candle was still alight, though it was nothing more than a lump of wax. Rebecca performed a few mental calculations, coming to the conclusion that it was about 6-8 in the morning.

She dressed slowly, and lit a lantern from what was left of the candle. Rebecca slowly walked along the passage realising that the storm had finished. As she approached the mess she heard some voices and walked in. A boy around 16, an older girl and a middle aged man were seated around a table chatting quietly.

"Badon has a pretty good shop, but I still think the best shops for magic are in Bern. They really know their tomes." The boy was saying. They stopped talking when Rebecca walked over.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca. I'm travelling with Dart" Rebecca said a little nervously.

"Hey Rebecca, I'm Sigrene, though everyone calls me Sig" The girl said.

"I'm Olan, 'n this here is Leo" The man said heartily "Take a seat. Leo's just a bit upset over the beating he took by you guys when you came a few months back. I just accepted mah defeat"

"So Rebecca, what gets you up so early? Let me guess, you woke up on the floor?" Sigrene said smiling.

"Yeah" Rebecca laughed "I kinda wish I had a hammock like you"

"Well actually, I wasn't here last night" Sigrene said "I was stuck in Badon because of the storm and I only just got back" spotting the questioning look on Rebecca's face added "I'm a Pegasus knight, I also check the whether before trips"

"Oh" Rebecca replied simply.

"I'm a Shaman 'n I also cook" Olan said "And Leo here?" He elbowed the brown-haired boy.

"I'm a Mage and I help Captain Fargus with the navigation of this ship" Leo said quietly.

"Oh, I'm an Archer, well a Sniper actually." Rebecca said

"A Sniper?" Leo said calmly, with a raised eyebrow "You must be pretty talented with a bow. I'm training to be a Sage, myself"

"Really, a sniper? Good work" Olan said, patting her on the back. Sigrene just grinned at her.

"I don't mean to sound intrusive, but where exactly are you going?" Leo asked

"I'm going back to my home village in Pherae" Rebecca said, feeling bad that she had to lie, but Dart had asked them not to tell the pirates about the treasure.

On the other side of the ship Wil slowly raised himself from his mass of blankets groaning. He hadn't had a very good night. After putting his stuff on the floor, he slid around all night. Also he wondered whether there were rats on board and that kept him awake, because every time he was about to go to sleep he heard some scuttling.

Wil rubbed his face and checked his watch. It was 7:30 in the morning. He groaned again.

Rebecca suddenly found herself alone with the serious mage, Leo. Sigrene had to check the weather for the afternoon, and Olan had to cook something for breakfast. Leo had pulled out a book and was reading it, when Olan left. He continued to read it while Rebecca buried her tired head in her hands and thought about Wil again. She just couldn't get him out of her mind after the dream, because her subconscious finally gave her some hints as to what she felt.

Leo coughed and Rebecca jerked, as she had forgotten Leo was even there. She looked up at him.

"I should go wake up the Captain, so we can discuss the rest of the journey. Good bye Rebecca" Leo said putting his book under his arm.

"Bye Leo" Rebecca said listlessly, Her mind still on Wil. Leo raised an eyebrow at her, and walked off.

Wil came down to the mess some time later, with Dart. Rebecca looked up at them and opened her mouth to greet Wil, but after one look at his red eyes she guessed that Wil wasn't feeling his best. Dart on the other hand, was pretty bubbly, as he decided to sleep in the old pirate quarters and wasn't tossed around by the storm.

They sat down next to Rebecca, but because Wil wasn't thinking properly, they both sat on one side of her. After a few minutes a few more pirates came down and one spotted the empty space next to Rebecca sat down next to her. Rebecca was still thinking about Wil and didn't notice the pirate next to her, at least until she felt his hand on her thigh.

She jerked around and quickly pulled out an arrow, thrusting it in the direction of the pirates arm. He quickly removed his hand from her leg, as the arrow grazed his arm. He got up and left soon after, still a bit stunned at Rebecca's response.

Rebecca spent the rest of the morning sleeping, and went on to the deck before lunch time to get some fresh air. The sea was very calm and she gazed out into it for a while, before some clattering on the deck made her turn around, Sigrene had come back from her scouting.

-Close to Badon-

Farina jumped down from a tree, where she had been resting. Karla was still sleeping at the foot of the tree and lifted her head slowly. The Pegasus knight and the Sword master had become friends ever since they first met just two months back.

After they left Valor, Farina and Karla went looking for employment as a mercenary team. They found Karric and his team almost immediately at Badon. He was leading an Eliwood style rebellion against the bandits that ruled further north. Unfortunately for Karric, they were noticed by a bandit in Badon and were attacked before they even came to Santaruz.

Farina and Karla were forced to flee for their lives, after witnessing most of their small army dying at the hands of the bandits. They only managed to grab some clothes and other small personal items before flying away on Farina's Pegasus. They flew for most of the night, until sheer exhaustion forced the Pegasus to land.

They spent a miserable night in their wet clothes and fell into a fitful sleep next to/in a tree. The night had seen the end of the storm, and the morning was cold and windy. They set out for Badon and reached it at lunchtime and immediately booked a room in the inn and they both fell asleep on the beds.

-The Davros-

Rebecca spent the time after lunch chatting to Olan and Sigrene, as Wil had slept through lunch and was still sleeping. They docked at Badon soon after lunch and Rebecca packed her stuff and walked out of the ship with her new friends.

**To the Reviewers**

**Lemurian-Girl: **Farina and Dart is an odd couple, it'll come in the next chapter I promise. Thanks,I really enjoyed writing the bed scene myself.

**ManaMage:** Thanks, sorry about taking so long to update, it's back to school for me, so I'll probably take longer to update in future as well.

**NobleSpirit: **This chapter and the next one will be more about the romance element than anything else, but later on it will be about the treasure. Thanks.

It's great to know you're appreciated, thankyou.

Chapter 4 will also be on the pairings again. Please R&R!


	4. The Hazards of the Arena

About the last chapter: Leo, Olan and Sigrene will appear later. They aren't really OC's (original characters) I just put a face on a faceless character.

This chapter is kind of in two parts. This chapter will be on what Farina and Karla do on this day, and the next chapter will be what Dart, Rebecca, Wil and Geitz do on the same day. Also I don't own FE or any of the characters

So without any further ado:

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The Hazards of the Arena**

-Badon-

Karla raised her damp self off the bed, the water she had dragged in left a huge mark in the middle of the bed. She groaned and pushed her dark frizzy hair out of her eyes. Great, she thought, not only do I feel like crap, my hair looks like Serra's. She woke up Farina and they decided to go to the baths after breakfast.

The inn was full of pirates who had arrived the day before from Badon. This excited Farina, certain that they had brought some members of Eliwood's army.

"Listen… they came from Badon, maybe someone came with them!" Farina said

"By someone, do you mean someone from the old army?" Karla asked, a little hesitantly.

"Nah, I think they brought a dragon along." Farina said, rolling her eyes "Let's check out the shops before we go to the baths."

"Why not" Karla said resignedly. They choked down their slightly stale porridge and left.

"Right, where first?" Asked Farina

"Well, why don't we check out the Armouries on the other side of town?" Karla suggested. Farina nodded and they walked off.

Badon isn't very big, but being the only pirate port on the south coast, it stocks a lot of supplies and fairly large selection of weaponry. There are 10 armouries and Vendors which sell: Basic lances, more advanced lances, basic axes, advanced axes, basic swords, advanced swords, basic bows, staves and miscellaneous items, basic magic tomes and a new shop had just opened which sold advanced bows.

The staves and miscellaneous items store was huge and this was where Farina and Karla went first. It was a large hall with staves lining one side, and different vulneraries and elixirs lined the other. In the middle was a range of items, from door keys to goddess icons to some rare promotion items near the back wall.

Farina worked her way down one side of hall, while Karla went down the other side after they agreed to rendezvous at the back wall. As she made her way through the small crowd, Farina spotted a display of Horse/Pegasus/Wyvern care products and picked up a small tub of hoof waterproofing wax, as she had to leave most of her Pegasus stuff behind. Karla however just picked up two elixirs and her dark eyes continued scanning the crowd.

They met up at the back of the hall and showed each other what they wanted to buy. Farina looked around and her eyes fell on the small display of promotion items in the corner.

"Hey look they have a few Elysian Whips" Farina said, reverently, pointing at a complicated whip which lay on top of a handsome leather case. Farina always kept hers on Murphy, in case she lost all her possessions.

"It would make a great present for Florina" She argued to herself softly. But then she saw the price tag and dropped the whip as though it was burning.

"15000 gold?" said Karla next to her "Let's just look for someone" Farina swished her hair and they walked down the hall, her dark blue eyes flashing around the room.

They didn't find anyone in the main store or the axe armouries next door, but when they walked into the new archery armoury they saw Wil and Rebecca browsing near a shelf of complicated bows.

"Oh look! It's Wil and Rebecca" Farina said running off to meet them.

"Wait!" Karla said, but it was too late. She knew of them and also the fact that they were both close to Dart and had put two and two together.

"Wil, Rebecca, how are you!" Farina said happily. Wil and Rebecca both did a double take.

"Hi, Farina!" Said Rebecca "It's nice to see you again"

"It is too" Added Wil. Farina smiled for a moment before Karla walked over.

"Hello, I'm Karla, we fought together a month ago" Karla said

"Karla, I know you, the sword princess! You're really talented" Wil said admiringly. Rebecca gave him a strange look at this and greeted Karla somewhat coldly.

"So what are you all doing here?" Farina asked them. Wil and Rebecca looked at each other.

"Oh we're going back to our old village in Pherae" Wil replied hesitantly.

"You two look like newlyweds!" Farina said happily. To her surprise Wil and Rebecca both blushed and looked away from each other. Rebecca chose to take it as a joke and laughed a bit a few seconds late.

"So where are you two going?" Rebecca asked, obviously trying to change the topic.

"We're not sure. We're currently looking to join a mercenary squad." Karla said.

"But no one pays as well as Hector." Farina added. They laughed a little and it became a little awkward.

"So Rebecca we're heading off to the baths, do you want to come along?" Farina asked.

"Oh err, if you don't mind Wil?" Rebecca asked, looking at him hopefully.

"Sure you can go Rebecca. When will you be back?" Wil said. Rebecca seemed a little sad about leaving Wil alone.

"Err" She turned to Farina.

"We'll have her back to you in an hour… sorry about breaking you two up." Farina said. Wil and Rebecca both looked away from each other for a second. Farina, Karla and Rebecca left the armoury and walked down to the baths.

Thankfully pirates aren't very hygienic and don't visit the baths very often, but even so, when people of opposite sexes come in they are allocated to different baths (there are six). So Farina, Karla and Rebecca walked to the counter and were given a room just behind the main area.

They stripped in the little side room, Farina with confidence, Rebecca a little nervously and Karla her usual impassive self. The water was surprisingly hot and it burnt them a little as they stepped in. They sat on a ledge underwater in silence for a while, before Farina decided to break the silence.

"So what's going on with you and Wil?" Farina asked, slyly. Rebecca kind of slipped a little, but slid back on again.

"Nothing, we were just chatting about life in the village, that's all" Rebecca stated, red faced, although that could have been the heat.

"All right, all right." Farina said smiling. She suddenly pushed off into the water gracefully and wet her hair. She trode water for a while before moving back to the edge. She tossed her wet hair over her back and basked in the heat for a while.

Karla wet her hair too, but then decided to get out and prepare for a morning arena battle, which was going to sign herself up for. She walked into the small room and changed back into her usual Sacaean garb and towelled her hair dry before walking out, thanking the woman at the counter and paying her share of the bath fee.

She walked over to the sword armoury and bought a killing edge, after gasping at the regal blade she saw on sale for 20000 gold. Karla decided that she would buy herself a light brand if she won at least twice in the arena.

Farina can push me into the arena for money, but she can't decide what I spend the money on, Karla thought with a little satisfaction. She headed over to the arena nearby.

"Well, what do we 'ave here then?" The Arena co-ordinator (if you can use such a word to describe an old battle-worn pirate with scars on his forehead) said to Karla when she approached. But he knew enough of battle to know that women should not be underestimated. In fact the scars on his face were inflicted by a female myrmidon.

"I want to battle old man" Karla said coolly to him, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

"If you know watcha getting into… alright there's a battle on right now, you'll be on after that. I'm gonna need…" He trailed off, judging the skill of the woman in front of him. "700 gold." Karla pulled out her money bag and handed him the money.

"You'll be up against a good strong sage, he's got a thunder tome. I need your belongings, they'll be up 'ere with me don' worry." He bent down under the counter with Karla's bag and sword. He shuffled around for a few minutes and then pulled out another sword. It was old and chipped and was on the brink of breaking.

"Right, here's a steel sword. Now if you die, you have to leave the name of someone who'll pickup your belongings."

"Farina" Karla said without hesitation. "She's a falcoknight."

"Right, well good luck" Karla was ushered into a sandy oval, where a dead paladin and horse were being dragged out of the arena, half a lance lying in the sand next to her. A huge berserker was shouting to the crowd, who were cheering.

Karla observed this without a single emotion. She had to be in that state, otherwise she might falter when it was necessary for a killing stroke. The berserker had left and a slightly nervous sage walked out onto one side of the field, to some applause.

Karla took a deep breath and waked out, her face expressionless, her body tense. She could almost see the sage was feeling bad for having to fight a woman. Maybe he had a wife… Karla drove the thought out of her mind. He was out to kill her, she thought to herself, If she didn't kill him he would kill her.

Even though Karla had done this many times before, it never got any easier. She didn't like killing, and killing in cold blood was a lot harder than in the heat of battle.

A drum roll started and it drove all thoughts out of her mind. Karla was only focused on beating the man in front of her. She pulled out the steel sword and it hung loosely by her side. The sage pulled out a yellow book and read over a passage quickly.

She thought to herself again. Now the best way to fight a sage is to strike really quickly so they don't have time to cast a spell, if he casts a spell, it's going to be a lot harder.

The drum roll ended and a trumpet sounded one extended blast. The two opponents tensed, waiting for the end of the sound, which would commence the battle. Karla increased her grip on the steel sword and it glinted in the sun. The sage swallowed and shuffled the book.

The trumpet blast ended. At once Karla was off, zigzagging while running so that the sage couldn't get aim, her hair flowing behind her. She knew at once that she was up against a formidable opponent. Already the sage had traced half a glowing image in the air. By the time Karla had reached him he had finished the image.

Karla slashed viciously with her sword, but the sage danced backwards completing the spell. She slashed again, this time vertically, but the sage slid to the side. A bolt of thunder flew at her from the air; she couldn't dodge so she threw her sword up in an attempt to stop the thunder.

The thunder cracked down on the sword with amazing ferocity, Karla felt it getting hot, but held on swinging herself under the sword to the side. The thunder abated and she jumped at the sage, so they were only a foot away from each other. This time he couldn't dodge, and the blade sank deep into his arm.

The crowd cheered, finally someone had inflicted some damage. The sage's next spell hit Karla in the arm. She could feel it burning, and yet it was glorious; she could smell her hair singing. She swung her sword backward and caught the sage off guard, cutting deep into his thigh. He screamed and Karla made the final slash across his chest, slicing his robes open and cutting the tome in half.

The sage swayed for a moment, his mouth full of blood, then collapsed onto the sand. Karla turned away and clenched her teeth at the pain in her arm. She stumbled back into the competitor's area and took a huge swig from her vulnerary. The pain in her arm subsided, and she could eerily feel her flesh healing itself.

Karla sat down in a small rickety chair by a window and gazed out for a minute.

"Karla, there you are!" A voice said behind her she spun around to see Farina walking over with Rebecca and Wil. Farina was grinning weirdly and Karla was a little suspicious, but she walked over to them.

"Seeing as you're standing in front of us, I take it you won?" Farina asked.

"Yeah, It was tough though, I got struck by a thunder" Karla said. Farina and Wil winced but Rebecca just looked sadly at Karla.

Farina had signed herself up for a battle after lunch, so they walked back to the inn, where they were all staying, for lunch. Farina ate quickly and took Murphy out of the small stables for a quick fly, to get ready for the battle.

Murphy was a very resilient young Pegasus and she was still flying at her best, despite what she went through. Her strong wings pushed them into the air in three large flaps. Farina instructed Murphy to circle the inn a few times before they landed.

They all walked over to the arena together giving Farina support as she led Murphy, who was trotting along beside them.

"I'm up against a Wyvern lord" Farina told them, looking fairly nervous. They were very strong, but she was amazingly fast and could avoid the more powerful blows, she told herself.

They separated once they reached the Arena, Karla, Wil and Rebecca heading towards the spectators area (competitors were allowed to bring in four spectators for free).

Farina tightened her hold on the steel lance the Arena man gave her and mounted Murphy.

"Okay Murphy, if we win I'll get you a noble carrot!" She said jokingly. Murphy made a little chuckling neigh and flappped her wings impatiently. At Farina's instruction she trotted on to the pitch.

The Wyvern was already out on the sand and it hissed at them. How could anyone ride them, Farina thought, They're so ugly. Murphy seemed to agree with her, because she gave a small shudder.

The drum roll started and the crowd fell silent. Farina spotted Karla, Wil and Rebecca sitting near the front behind the Wyvern.

Both Farina and they Wyvern Lord pressed themselves further into their steeds. The drum roll came to an end, and Farina moved her lance a little.

The trumpet sounded, and a band struck up for some reason… tiddle tiddle tiddle tiddle dum Dum DUM… Dum dum DUM… Farina ignored the music. the trumpet blast ended and they both took off into the air.

Farina made the first strike, as Murphy slid sideways in the air to help her. The lance plunged into the Wyvern's shoulder, but it didn't seem to feel it at all. Farina swallowed and pulled the lance out of it's shoulder.

The Wyvern lord struck out then, but the lance missed. Barely. In fact it grazed Murphy's wing as Farina found out later.

Murphy turned again and Farina stuck out her lance again, this time hitting the wyvern on it's side and it hissed. She pulled out her lance and struck again, this time hitting the rider's armour, causing a large dent in it. The rider had pulled his lance around and made another attack, this time Murphy was too slow, and the lance hit the side of her leg.

Murphy neighed very loudly, but still turned for the attack. Farina focused totally on the accuracy this time and stuck the rider in the chest, almost knocking him off, but not causing any damage.

Now that she had the lance where she wanted Farina pulled it back a little before slamming it into the rider as hard as she could. The rider lost his grip on the reins and fell off his Wyvern. The Wyvern rose into the air, with the loss of a great weight on it's back.

The rider was lying on the ground, while Farina twirled her lance in her hands, while Murphy flew at the rider. Farina aimed the lance at rider's chest, but saw his eyes, they were full off pain and suffering.

Farina immediately felt sorry for him and instead swung her lance sideways into his helmet, knocking him out. Murphy landed on the ground a short way away to some cheering from the crowds.

Farina's mind was full of what had happened. She was trying to figure out why she had stopped herself. The obvious thought was that he wasn't going to kill her, but she knew that wasn't it. It was the eyes, she thought, of course. He was poor, just like she herself was only a few years back and it reflected into his eyes.

She led Murphy to the dingy stable area, found a vulnerary in her bag and fed some to Murphy, who neighed with relief. Karla, Rebecca and Wil walked over to her and congratulated her.

"Great battle Farina" Karla said.

"Yeah, I was really worried for a second, but that was amazing!" Rebecca added. She then walked over to Murphy to pet her.

"I had no idea you were so fast and so skilful with a lance" Wil said. Rebecca turned away from him and became more involved with patting Murphy. She suddenly walked away to the counter and signed up for an indirect battle (Rebecca, not Murphy).

The others looked a little disbelieving, but they went up to the stands after supporting her.

They sat in the stands, Wil was on the edge of the bench watching Rebecca nervously. Rebecca was up against a Druid armed with a flux tome. The band struck up and the battle begun. Rebecca made two shots which hit their target, before dodging a flux spell. She made two more shots, one of which missed, before another flux came at her.

This time, however, she was too slow and got hit by it. She cried out, but made the final shot and the druid fell backwards on to the sand.

Afterwards she took some vulnerary and enjoyed some congratulations from Farina, Karla and Wil. She seemed quite happy with herself.

Karla decided that she would have another shot at the arena and signed up for one. It was decided that she would be up against a general, a highly skilled general. She picked up the old steel sword and walked outside without a word. The sun was setting and it filled the Arena with a soft orange light.

Farina, Rebecca and Wil walked up to the stands for the battle. The drum roll started and the huge general walked out with a huge lance. Karla knew at once that if she let herself be hit by the lance there was a chance that she would be getting back up.

She would have to go critical to beat this general, maybe even twice. She tightened her grip on the sword. The drum roll ended and the band struck up.

The trumpet blast ended and the battle began. Karla ran up and slashed at the general, slicing through some of the armour. The general growled and thrust out his lance. Karla slipped to the side, just avoiding the path of the lance. It was travelling so fast it felt as though it had hit her, even though it missed by a centimetre.

Karla attacked again, so fast it was little more than a flash of the sword. Two deep gashes appeared in the general's armour. He thrust again, but this time the lance hit its mark. Karla screamed as the lance ripped into her leg, through her white Sacaen robe. She dropped on all fours in pain, while in the stage Farina stood up in horror.

"Yield, Karla! YIELD!" Farina screamed at her. Karla looked up to see a lance flying towards her head. She rolled to the side and the lance drove into the sand.

For some reason the sight of the lance threw everything out of her mind, the defeat, the sorrow and the pain. She jumped up onto her uninjured leg and spun her sword around her. Another gash appeared in his armour and he groaned, but he still wrenched his lance out of the sand and swung it wildly.

Karla ducked under the lance and went critical aiming for his neck, five huge gashes opening up in the general's armour. She ducked waiting for the next lance attack, but it never came.

Her attack had severed the general's throat, and he collapsed into the sand, like so many before him. Unfortunately for Karla, her boost of energy left when she saw the general collapse and she followed suit.

"KARLA!" Farina screamed. They ran down to the sand and picked up the unconscious swordmaster. Rebecca poured some elixir into her mouth.

"Let's take her to the infirmary" Rebecca said. They hobbled over to the infirmary, which was next door to the arena.

The infirmary was a small hall with several stretchers. When Farina and Wil walked in carrying Karla, a young priest who was sitting in a canvas chair by the window trying to understand a light magic tome, jumped up. He pulled a mend staff out of his robes and immediately stepped in to action.

The priest used his staff several times, and the wound sealed, but he couldn't revive her.

"I'm not sure I can heal her… It seems that she's almost accepted death." The priest said sadly. "We have to wait and see if she wakes up." Farina, Wil and Rebecca looked at each other, shocked at what they heard.

Just then Dart and Geitz burst into the infirmary.

"Rebecca, Wil you're alri- wait you!" Dart said spotting Farina in the corner sobbing quietly.

"Dart" Geitz said in a low warning voice "leave it"

"Karla…" Farina moaned "Please wake up, remember our agreement…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll recover" The priest said, but they could all hear the lack of conviction in his voice.

* * *

Well that was a long chapter…Yay more than 10,000 words! (altogether). The next chapter is more romantically minded… and I will get it on in a couple of days. 

**To the Reviewers:**

**Lemurian-Girl:** Okay so maybe they're not that odd in their supports. Anyway thanks, I kinda feel sorry for Wil and Rebecca after what I put them through…

**ManaMage:** Foreshadowing? Well you'll find out. Thanks.

**MiSs JoVaNNa: **I dunno, I guess I meant like bow strings or something, I mean peoplekeep a lot ofweird things in chests… Glad you enjoyed it.

**Nightmare3: **Thanks for the advice, I was kinda hesitant when I put in Karla, because she's such a deep character. I try to keep thoughts to a minimum, but I'll take them out of quotation marks. In answer to your question, I plan on including some cameos the fic continues.

**Draknal (Chapter 1):** I really do need a new description. Thankyou, I hope I keep the plot fresh and interesting.

**Daniel Chen: **You don't understand the plot? It's really quite simple. Thanks.

I couldn't post for the last 2 weeks, because I posted something in script format, my bad! I'm sorry to you and to fan fiction . net. everyone R&R!


	5. Narrow Escapes

Buenos Ding-dong-diddly dias! Wow, Even I didn't expect I'd have this much homework this week. Anyway, This chapter is the same day as the last chapter, but it follows Wil, Rebecca, Dart and Geitz.

I don't own FE or any of the characters…

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Narrow Escapes**

-Badon-

Wil pushed himself away from the bed, he finally felt like himself again, having slept for almost a full day and night. He wondered whether someone had drugged him, jokingly, and checked his watch. 9:00. Great I missed breakfast, he thought, but maybe Rebecca's downstairs.

They had arrived at Badon the day previously and Wil had just collapsed on his bed, ignoring Geitz, who was his roommate. Dart was with Rebecca, as he was the most trustworthy, being Rebecca's long lost brother.

Wil had managed to stumble down to dinner, his eyes red, and immediately went back to sleep.

It was the morning now and he traipsed down to find Rebecca and Geitz picking at some ice-cold porridge.

"Hey mind if I join you?" Wil asked unnecessarily. He sat down heavily next to Rebecca, leaned back and yawned.

"Don't tell me you're still tired?" Geitz asked, comically shocked. They laughed a little, and wondered what to do for the day.

-On board the Davros (Badon)-

Dart, meanwhile, found himself working for Fargus once more. Fargus had came into the inn before breakfast and told him he had something that only Dart or he himself could do.

"Dart me mate… I need someone… taken out" Captain Fargus told him sadly. He continued after Dart's muffled exclamation.

"Ye see, this evil mooncalf is threatening pick us off one by one, just 'cause we destroyed his brother's ship. I'mean we're Pirates!" Dart gave a weak smile at this. "So ye gotta help me Dart, If I were to do it meself someone would see me."

"I understand Cap'n…" Dart said softly. His mind was still going over what he would have to do. He would have to kill someone in cold blood. Dart had been sent in to kill many soldiers by the tactician, but there is a large difference in killing someone in the heat of battle and killing someone in cold blood.

Dart swallowed nervously… he would need to pick up some weaponry.

He found out that the person he had to kill was a hero by the name of Blaz, who was currently living in a ger (A kind of dome-like nomadic hut) outside town.

- The Badon Inn-

"Uhh Rebecca do you want to go shopping with me?" Wil asked, a little nervously. Geitz nearly chuckled into his porridge, it sounded like Wil was asking her out on a date.

Rebecca smiled happily and nodded to Wil. She was just happy to find an excuse to spend time with him, and it sounded like Wil was really eager to spend time with her as well.

They left their separate ways: Wil and Rebecca going to the archery armouries and Geitz heading over to look at some axes.

"So Wil… uhh" Rebecca racked her mind thinking of something to say. "Uhh, what treasure do you think we'll find?" Oh god, she thought, what the heck was that, now Wil will I'm only interested in the treasure.

Wow she so beautiful…, Wil thought, the morning light certainly accentuates her features. I never knew she was going to be so beautiful when we were growing up…

Uhh okay…, Rebecca thought, confused at what just happened. It seemed like he was listening to me, he was certainly looking at me, but he didn't respond… Oh well, it was a stupid question anyway, maybe it's best he didn't hear it.

Oh great now she saw you looking at her and probably thinks you're perverted, Wil mentally shouted at himself.

"There's that new archery shop Olan was talking about…" Rebecca said, almost giggling when she saw Wil. She secretly enjoyed the effect she was having on him as they entered the armoury.

The armoury had some of the most advanced bows the two of them had ever seen.

"Wow!" Wil exclaimed, finally distracted from Rebecca by the dazzling array of bows, arrows and archery accessories surrounding them. He picked up a Killer bow and examined it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rebecca reaching for a bow.

"Watch out!" Wil said, grabbing Rebecca's arm, she turned to him, confused. "That was a poison bow" He said pointing to a small label. Rebecca blushed deeply at the mistake she had just made, she didn't want to seem like someone who needed protection.

"Thanks." Rebecca said eventually.

It was at this moment when Farina and Karla approached them.

"Wil, Rebecca, how are you!" Farina said happily. Wil and Rebecca looked around to see the young Pegasus knight standing behind them.

"Hi, Farina!" Said Rebecca, still taken aback to see Farina "It's nice to see you again"

"It is too" Added Wil, Smiling, though a little insincerely. He was a bit upset that they were interrupted.

"Hello, I'm Karla, we fought together a month ago" Karla said. Wil looked at her for a second, trying to remember her, but he could only remember what Bartre had told him.

"Karla, I know you, the sword princess! You're really talented" Wil said, not really thinking at all.

Rebecca was stunned for a moment as she saw Wil practically drooling at the swordmaster. First Lyn, she thought, now her, he's acting like Sain.

"Hello Karla" Rebecca said eventually, the coldness in her voice cutting through the moment like Karla's sword. Farina was taken aback by Rebecca's coldness, she had met Rebecca and she was nice enough… Farina wracked her mind for an ice-breaker.

"So what are you all doing here?" Farina asked them. Wil and Rebecca looked at each other. Do they lie or tell them the true reason for their journey, they both thought. They chose the lie, after all how could they trust anyone and from Farina's reputation it sounded like she would do almost anything for money.

"Oh we're going back to our old village in Pherae" Wil replied hesitantly.

"You two look like newlyweds!" Farina said happily. Wil and Rebecca were instantly mortified. Oh Saint Elimine, Rebecca thought, please spare me from her. She realised that the best way to take this was as a joke and laughed several seconds late.

"So where are you two going?" Rebecca asked in a transparent attempt to change the topic.

"We're not sure. We're currently looking to join a mercenary squad." Karla said.

"But no one pays as well as Hector." Farina added. They laughed a little and a silence fell.

"So Rebecca we're heading off to the baths, do you want to come along?" Farina asked. Oh, Rebecca thought, I really wanted to spend time with Wil…

"Oh err, if you don't mind Wil?" Rebecca asked hoping against hope that he could come up with some reason to not go.

"Sure you can go Rebecca. When will you be back?" Wil said, misinterpreting Rebecca's expectant expression for one of pleading.

"Err" Rebecca said, disappointed that Wil didn't come up with anything.

"We'll have her back to you in an hour… sorry about breaking you two up." Farina said. Farina really had a knack for embarrassing people, or so Wil and Rebecca thought as they winced inwardly at Farina's choice of words.

Rebecca allowed herself to be bundled away by Farina to the baths. They relaxed in the bath, with an awkward conversation about Wil, but soon Karla left to go to the arena downtown. Rebecca felt a vague compulsion to go and cheer for her fellow army member, but a combination of vague jealousy and sheer laziness kept her in the bath.

Meanwhile Dart and Geitz were nervously browsing the axe shop trying to find the perfect item.

"'Ere we go" Dart said holding up a swordreaver, they bought two.

Dart had found Geitz in the Axe store, Dart realised that he needed someone to help him and was overjoyed to find Geitz, as Dart wanted to keep Wil and Rebecca out of this, they looked so young.

Dart had immediately told Geitz everything and he agreed to help. They searched the armoury for anything that would give them the upper hand and finally found the swordreavers.

"Dart, we should do something to relax, get us a bath room will you" Geitz ordered.

"Yea, mate" Dart accepted. Geitz went to the inn to get his battle clothes and Dart headed off to the baths.

Rebecca had just realised that she had left Wil waiting in the Archery store and quickly dressed and ran off. But before she did she had let some information slip. She had accidentally told Farina that she was travelling with Dart and now Farina was floating in the water, considering her options.

She needed to see that map again, she was sure of that much, but how would she get it from Dart? She could steal it, but if she was caught, there was no way she could get it… She had to come up with a way of getting the map from Dart, preferably by him giving it to her and she had to do it without the others knowing about it, especially not Wil or Rebecca.

Farina lay back in the water thinking, when she overheard a gruff, yet youngish voice from the main area. She listened in and realised that it was Dart and he was taking the room down the hall. Farina almost giggled with glee, now the victim was in her grasp, but what was the plan?

To Farina's delight she came up with a plan almost straight away, although she wondered if it was stepping over the line. She jumped out of the bath and grabbed a towelling robe from the side room. She looked around outside the door to make sure the coast was clear.

After seeing no-one, she scampered across the tiled floor and quickly entered the room, making sure that the door shut as quietly as possible. She dropped her robe onto the floor and tried to stop herself from giggling as she heard Dart clattering about inside.

Dart had walked into the side room a few moments before and stripped out of his clothes quickly. He rubbed his chest and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Dart opened the door and walked out to see Farina standing there. Naked. Dart's eyes quickly roamed her slender waist, muscular legs and the side view of her face before coming to a rest on her chest. He could feel his heartbeat gradually increase and turned a little red.

Farina could sense Dart's eyes on the side of her body and slowly turned around, this needed to be done carefully, she thought. She didn't want to scare him off. Farina pretended to finally notice Dart and squealed softly covering her self.

"_Turn around_ you pervert!" Farina said looking at him. He wasn't bad looking, really muscular and he had great legs, she thought. Thankfully she had stopped her eyes from moving further upwards.

Dart quickly turned around, silently thanking Elimine for the small towel around his waist.

"Blast it, Farina!" Dart said, angrily "You're in the wrong room, woman". He didn't want to feel anything for her, considering what he had to do, but he was finding ignoring her especially hard at the moment, as she _was_ naked behind him. Farina grabbed the robe lying on the floor and wrapped it around her. She left as Dart was turning around looking confused and disappointed.

Farina waited until she was back in her own side room before bursting into laughter. His face was classic as he drooled over her. She dressed quickly and walked out of the baths smiling to herself.

Dart walked over to the water, which was barely warmer than himself, trying to ignore the pain in his towel. He got in and waited for Geitz to come in.

Farina walked out of the baths quickly and headed towards the inn, to see Rebecca and Wil walking out of it. Rebecca had gone looking for Wil and found him in his room. They decided to go to the arena to see if Karla was still fighting,

Farina basically ran into them and they all went to the arena together. Rebecca, by now, was fairly annoyed with Farina for interrupting her and Wil's time together.

They reached the Arena, where the co-ordinator told them that the battle was over and pointed them in the direction of the competitor's area. They found Karla staring out of a window. Farina called out to her and she walked over to them.

"Seeing as you're standing in front of us, I take it you won?" Farina asked.

"Yeah, It was tough though, I got struck by a thunder" Karla said. Ouch, Wil and Farina thought and they winced. Rebecca felt a bit sorry for her, but she kept her defence.

They went back to the inn and grabbed lunch, after which Farina went off to practise for the arena.

On the other side of Badon, Geitz and Dart walked out of an archery armoury, Geitz carrying a new Short Bow. They headed out of the town sadly, silently preparing themselves for the battle to come.

They spotted the ger almost immediately and walked solemnly towards it.

"Remember the plan, Geitz, you stay out 'ere while I go in and try an deal with 'im". An' if I get in trouble, you shoot him on my signal." Dart explained softly. Geitz paused and nodded slowly. He walked over to a handy group of rocks, while Dart approached the ger.

"What do we have here?" said Blaz in a perfectly structured accent (Which is quite rare in commoners for some reason or the other).

"Wha' do you know about Ca- Fargus?" Dart asked the man, trying his hardest to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Ahh so you're a pirate? And you've come to kill me?" Blaz said grinning. "Well I'm sorry that Fargus underestimates me so, I mean really sending a Pirate to kill a Hero…"

"Why are ye doing this?" Dart said sadly, shaking his head.

"I don't feel the need to explain myself to a pirate who's expanding his horizons into murder. Just falling beneath my blade should be enough for the likes of you." Blaz stated arrogantly, and as we all know arrogance is the downfall of at least a quarter of all evil people.

Outside Geitz was anxiously stretching his bowstring when he heard a rustle in a shrub nearby. He fitted an arrow in his Killer bow and fired it into the shrub. There was a deep scream from the shrub and Geitz grimaced.

Blaz heard the scream and raised an eyebrow. "Brought some help?" He asked coolly. He sent a few of his men out to investigate and got another one to tie up Dart.

"You'll make the perfect lure for your friend" Blaz said to Dart, who was being held at dagger-point.

Geitz, was in a far more precarious position. Having hit one of Blaz' archers, he had attracted attention and now some swordsmen were outside looking for him.

He readied another arrow and waited a moment to see whether they would come towards him. They did. Geitz decided to play his surprise attack card early and stood up, firing an arrow into the nearest swordsman. The other two spun around as one and ran forwards with their swords extended.

Geitz tossed his bow aside and grabbed his swordreaver, they may have the advantage of numbers, but I have the weapon triangle, He thought. The two swordsmen paused while they sussed out his weapon. Geitz took the opportunity presented by the hesitation and jumped over the rocks, bearing the axe right into the swordmaster.

Or at least it would have, had the swordmaster not turned to the side at the last moment, leaving Geitz's axe slashing at thin air. Geitz yanked his axe out of the ground and spun around, slashing at the swordsman sideways.

There was an almighty CLANG as all the spinning momentum of Geitz's axe was brought to a halt by the swordmasters sword.

"I ain't never seen a warrior twirl before!" The swordmaster laughed, trying to distract Geitz from the assassin coming up at his side.

Luckily for Geitz, the assassin's gloves brushed loudly against his coat and Geitz jumped backwards, avoiding the assassin's daggers by centimetres. Unluckily for Geitz, he forgot that there was a formation of rocks behind him. He stumbled and the swordmaster took the opportunity and thrust his sword sideways at his neck.

"Warrior!" Blaz shouted from inside the ger "Surrender or your pirate friend here will be receiving a blade through his neck!". Geitz glared at the two swordsmen in front of him for a moment, before sliding his hand away from his axe.

"Fire!" A voice shouted from nowhere. The swordmaster's clothes suddenly burst into fire and he screamed. Geitz tried to raise his head to see who was chanting, but the assassin kicked his face hard and Geitz fell back, blacking out.

His last view was that of the assassin being enveloped by a packet of dark energy that had apparently come out of the ground.

"Leo, he's out like a light." The shaman said, pushing his red hair out of his eyes. Leo picked up one of the assassin's daggers and slid it into his cloak.

Inside the ger Blaz, who had heard the scream and assumed the worst, was holding his blade in front of Dart's face. The hero raised the blade slowly, but as he did so he felt the ground beneath him vibrate. He threw himself to the side just in time to avoid the dark energy seeping out of the clay.

Blaz growled and rolled over to the corner, throwing his sword away. He unstrapped a hand axe, and threw it, making it turn sideways through the open flap. It narrowly missed Leo as he ran towards the ger. However it hit Olan in the chest, thankfully with the handle. Leo burst in through the hole, pulling out his Thunder tome. He paused when he saw the scene in front of him.

Dart was still tied to his chair, which had fallen over when Blaz kicked it. Two myrmidons were quickly unsheathing their swords and Blaz had picked up his discarded sword. Leo drew out the assassin's dagger. Okay, he thought in the moment he had left, how do I use this?

He held it in front of him as tightly as he could, in an attempt to fend off Blaz' sword. It slammed into the dagger, which flew into the air and slammed into the ground close to Dart.

"Olan!" Leo shouted as he frantically danced backwards, trying to avoid the three swords rushing at him. A sloppily cast Thunder spell struck one of the myrmidon's arm, making him drop his sword. As he paused to pick it up, he was overwhelmed by a rush of dark energy.

In a pile of rocks, Geitz suddenly regained consciousness with a groan. He looked up to see two magic users trying to cast spells at Blaz and his myrmidon. He picked up his bow, trying to ignore the hammering in his head. The myrmidon was about to slash at the mage and Geitz, realizing that the myrmidon was working for Blaz, loosed an arrow at his head.

Now it was just Blaz left. The hero looked around a little nervously at the bodies around him.

"Are you Geitz?" Leo asked Geitz, who nodded suspiciously, despite the pain. "Rebecca described you."

Blaz was still waiting for the first strike. The two magic users chanted their spells at the same time, casting a Thunder from the air and a Flux from the ground. Blaz dodged to the side, avoiding the spells and the resulting magic vacuum.

He swung his sword at Leo, narrowly missing his head, but shaving off a centimetre or so off the top of Leo's tome. Geitz staggered forward and tried to swing his axe, but it was easily dodged. Blaz made a short cut along Geitz's arm with a quick flick of his sword.

"Hold him off" Leo said in a low voice, before running into the ger. He pulled the dagger out of the ground near Dart's head and began to cut him loose.

Olan and Geitz tried to hold Blaz's attention by a combination of elder spells and tired axe strokes. The Swordreaver protected Geitz from the more powerful of Blaz's strikes, but his arms were getting cut more and more often. Olan tried to hit him with a spell and even tried throwing a vulnerary, but Blaz avoided them all. They did, however, occupy him.

Leo finally cut Dart free and he removed his gag.

"Thanks…?" Dart said, raising himself out of the chair. He unstrapped his Swordreaver and ran out of the ger.

Geitz made a weak slash at Blaz's chest and he jumped backwards. Into Dart's axe. Olan seized the moment and cast a Flux straight for Blaz. It was a direct hit, and Blaz writhed while the dark energy coursed it's way through his body. It centred on his chest and drove through him.

"A lucky shot!" He mumbled, before the Flux pushed the last breath of air out of lungs. Leo walked out of the ger and ran a hand through his short blonde hair.

"Uhhh…" Leo said, surveying the bloody scene around him. "Why were these people trying to kill you anyway?"

"They want, wanted to-" Dart started to say, but he broke off when he heard the sound of a person scrambling away. Of course, he thought, the archer!

"Geitz!" Dart exclaimed. Geitz pulled out his bow, but the sounds had died away.

"Oh well." He sighed. They walked silently back into the town as the sun set.

They walked into the Inn where a group of pirates were animatedly discussing what they had just seen at the arena.

"Then there was that archer girl, killed a Druid in five shots!" The pirates cheered. Dart's mind was instantly filled with an image of Rebecca fighting in the arena. No way, he thought, they must mean someone else.

"What did the archer look like?" Dart asked the pirate in the middle of the group.

"The girl, uhh… she 'ad green hair in pigtails, Pretty Hot!" The pirate laughed.

"That's my sister you dolt!" Dart shouted, shocked.

"Really? Well then you better go the infirmary!"

"What? Why!" Geitz suddenly shouted.

"She not 'urt, but she went in there with a friend of 'ers, black hair, really good with a sword, HOT! Even when she's hurt." The pirate told them.

"Hurt…" Dart said. "Let's go, Leo, Olan can you stay 'ere an' look out for them?"

"Sure, Dart, I'm sure she'll be fine!" Olan said, trying to console him.

"I don't like the idea of 'er being out at night in this town. Geitz come on!" Dart said, before bolting out of the Inn. Geitz followed him and they ran across the town.

Dart and Geitz reached the infirmary in a few minutes. They burst into the infirmary to see Wil, Rebecca and Farina looking upset.

"Rebecca, Wil you're alri- wait you!" Dart said, relieved that he had found Rebecca and Wil, but this was almost driven out of his mind by the sight of Farina sobbing in the corner. When you've been caught spying on someone, that someone is the last person you want to see.

"Dart" Geitz said in a low warning voice, confused as to why Dart was angry at Farina "leave it." Just then Farina leant over Karla and collapsed on top of her.

"Karla…" Farina moaned "Please wake up, remember our agreement…". Dart and Geitz just looked at each other.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll recover" The priest said.

"Are you sure? You don't sound very confident about that." Geitz asked.

"Of course she will, with this Fortify staff, she might stay unconscious, but she will stay alive for at least a week. She could stay unconscious for the next few days and still wake up healthy!" The priest reassured them.

"So now all we have to do is wait.." Wil said wearily. "Well I'll go with Rebecca and we'll get some sheets from our rooms." They left together, but Geitz went with them.

Now Dart was basically alone with Farina, as the priest went back to his tome.

"So Farina…" Dart said.

"Please leave me alone Dart." Obviously she wasn't in the mood for idle chatter.

* * *

And now you see why I broke this chapter into two. Karla will be alright! Or will she? Yes! 

**To the Reviewers:**

**Nightmare3: **Cameos… well look for them soon -Cough- Raven -Cough-. Thanks.

**MiSs JoVaNNa: **Thankyou.

**Lemurian-Girl: **Of course I wouldn't kill off Karla. Anyway, thankyou. Hmm Fir _does_ look a lot like Karla…

**Daniel Chen: **OhK, I just misunderstood you. Thanks… Busy? Well yeah…

**ManaMage:** She sure does, let us fondly remember their 'B' support. Thanks, I'm sorry I made you wait.

In closing I'd just like to say: Is it just me or does Moulder (FE: SS) look like a potato? R&R!


	6. A Dark Meeting

Wow I haven't had a very good weekend… anyway:

* * *

**Chapter 6 – A Black Meeting**

-The port town of Badon-

In a strange dreamlike state, Karla was reliving the final battle outside Dragon's Gate. It was as though she was there and everything was completely new to her.

"What!" Karla shouted incredulously at the tactician. She was momentarily stunned as the tactician nodded. She couldn't attack a swordmaster, someone so like Karel and herself, but her orders had been shouted.

Already regretting her decision to join the army, she gripped her sword and moved forward hesitantly. The enemy swordmaster growled and leered at her. Karla leant backwards and drew out her sword. The swordmaster raised an eyebrow and smirked, before drawing his own sword.

Okay, she thought, if I can get to that forest he'll never be able to hit me. Karla started to run towards the forest, but was forced to stop as the swordmaster attacked extremely quickly. Karla brought up her sword just in time to stop the sword's progress.

"Grrhhh!" The swordmaster growled, his eyes flashing. Wooah he's fast, Karla thought, Oh no... he's going critical! She screamed and threw herself to the side before the swordmaster's sword slashed the air where she used to be five times.

Karla jumped up and ran towards the forest. The swordmaster, driven a little crazy by his predicament, just threw his sword at her back. The sword flew through the air slamming sideways into Karla's back, the force of the impact making her fall over. She slammed into the ground, her arm jarring on a large branch, which was lying on the on the earth.

The sword embedded itself a few inches away from Karla's foot, while just meters away the forest hummed with insect life. She rolled over as the swordmaster appeared basically on top of her. He grinned wickedly and pulled the sword out of the ground. Karla's own sword was lying on the ground near her head, but she couldn't reach it.

As Karla was focusing on the swordmaster, who was raising his sword, a falcoknight swiftly flew over the peaks which bordered the area where the main skirmish was occurring. With a trained eye she immediately spotted Karla's situation.

The falcoknight quickly unstrapped a javelin and hurled it as hard as she could towards the enemy swordsman, grinning savagely when she saw it hit its mark.

"Hey, you! Wait up!" The falcoknight shouted at Karla's back, while landing gracefully.

"What?" Karla snapped, turning around. But when she turned around to see the slender figure dismount her mind reeled with memories.

"I'm Farina, I'm a Pegasus knight of Ilia!" Farina began. Farina… I remember, Karla thought.

"… I'm Karla" She said slowly, while her mind tried to collect what was going on. Was it an alternate reality?

"Nice to meet you, Karla! So...I'll get right to the point. How much are they paying you? Just so you know, I'm getting 20,000 gold!" Farina continued, while Karla's mind processed the information. Okay, obviously not an alternate reality, it's just something I heard about or something…, she thought.

When Karla shut her eyes her mind suddenly flashed with images: becoming true mercenaries, the attack on the camp, fleeing with Farina, the baths, the arena… The Arena. She remembered everything in a surge of understanding and snapped her eyes open with a deep breath.

* * *

Farina had spent the last twelve miserable hours in an old chair covered by some blankets. She drifted in and out of a fitful sleep for the first few hours, but had fallen into a light sleep when Karla started to regain consciousness. Farina was woken by Karla's erratic movements just past dawn. 

Karla was shuffling around on the bed and for a fantastic moment Farina thought she was awake, but it seemed as though she was having a fit. Not knowing what to do, Farina gripped Karla's shoulders and tried to stop her movements. She moved even faster and pushed harder against Farina until she opened her eyes and gasped.

"Farina!" Karla gasped as she awoke. She twitched a little to see Farina basically on top of her, but was very happy to see her and by the look on Farina's face she was too.

Karla hugged Farina tightly and Farina, unused to such shows of emotion from Karla, was a little hesitant, but hugged her back.

On the bed beside them Dart opened his eyes to see the two women hugging intimately in the rising sunlight. He raised a thick eyebrow at the sight, he knew they liked each other but...

He turned over and quickly drifted into sleep again.

"Karla!" Farina sobbed, after their record embrace "You're okay…". Karla just smiled. "You need to rest some more, I'll let you go to sleep" Farina added, walking over to another bed nearby. She thankfully lay down on the bed, pulling her blankets over her.

Karla, on the other hand, had spent the last ten or so hours in a sleep-like state and therefore wasn't tired at all. She rose from the bed, finally noticing that her robes were encrusted with her own dried blood. Shuddering, she set off at a brisk walk to the inn, hoping that there weren't any people outside.

As she hurried to the inn, trying to ignore the soreness in her leg, she heard a pirate whistle behind her back. Karla turned around and the pirate jumped back when he saw the blood all over her robes. Karla simply continued walking imagining a relaxing bath and clean robes. She went straight to her room and quickly changed into clean robes, throwing out the old ones.

Deciding to let Farina sleep, Karla headed off to the baths and took some time to relax in the hot water.

Meanwhile in the infirmary Rebecca awoke slowly, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She spotted Karla's empty bed and wondered where she was. What was her name… that's right Karla, she thought, looking at Wil, who was gently slumbering, like I could ever forget that name.

Wil awoke, feeling Rebecca's eyes on him. He sat up and turned to the side to see Rebecca also sitting up, staring sadly at him.

"Uhh Rebecca?" Wil asked, confused.

"Good morning Wil" Rebecca mumbled, sliding back into the sheets, trying to keep a sob out of her voice.

"Rebecca?" Wil asked again "Rebecca what's wrong? Hmm where's Karla?". Rebecca's mood was slightly uplifted by the note of concern in Wil's voice, but it spiralled down when he mentioned Karla. Rebecca desperately tried to keep tears out of her eyes, while Wil moved over to her.

"Rebecca what's wrong?" Wil asked yet again "Is it about Karla?". Rebecca, overcome with rage at Karla, kicked out as hard as she could.

"OW! You kicked me in the… uhh OW!" Wil complained, doubled up. Rebecca pulled on her tunic and slid into her boots, ignoring Wil who was rolling around on the floor, groaning. She picked up the rest of her belongings and walked off towards the inn.

Dart, who was woken once again by Wil's moans, got out of the bed resignedly.

"Wil, are you a'right mate?" he asked the moving ball, which was Wil. When he realised what had happened he fought to keep his face straight. "So why did Rebecca kick you?"

"I… urrgh… don't know…" Wil groaned, but the pain was subsiding.

"What did ye do?" Dart asked suspiciously

"Nothing" Wil said, straightening out slowly. "I swear I did nothing!"

"a'right, well maybe you best go talk to her… or maybe I best go talk to her" Dart reasoned, walking out of the infirmary. He looked around for his sister and saw her hurrying towards the port.

"Rebecca!" He shouted at the quickly departing figure, who started running when she heard the shout.

Rebecca was running as fast as she could, she didn't know where she was going anymore, but she just wanted to avoid Wil. For she had lost her temper once again and it hurt her just to accept it. It was just too terrible to think that she had just hurt someone who used to care for her, and it was even more terrible to think that Wil was now infatuated with someone else. So she ran and when she knew that someone was trying to come after her, she ran faster. Rebecca couldn't face Wil again.

Dart ran after her, his muscular legs helping him slowly catch up to his sister. Rebecca ran up to the short wall which stood between the town and the sea and collapsed on top of it, sobbing uncontrollably. Dart finally caught up with her and picked up her dropped belongings before walking over to her.

"Rebecca?" Dart asked cautiously, surreptitiously protecting his groin. "Rebecca are ye okay?"

"Leave me alone Dan" Rebecca pleaded. Neither of them bothered to correct her mistake.

"Rebecca, tell me what's wrong" Dart asked her. Rebecca turned around and for a moment saw her brother in the face of the pirate, so she told him.

"It's Wil..." She began

"Why? What's he done?" Dart asked. If he harmed Rebecca…, he thought, threatening an imaginary Wil.

"No he hasn't done anything, well… you see I thought he liked me and now he's on to Karla and I bet he likes Farina and…" Rebecca broke off into a self pitying sob.

"Well if he wasn' datin' you then it isn' cheating…"Dart said, trying to work out the logistics of the situation.

"I know but…" Rebecca broke off again, this time dissolving into tears.

"Oh it's allrigh' I'm sure he doesn' like them Rebecca.." Dart said comfortingly, putting an awkward arm around her. "Let's just go inside".

He gently led her to the inn and by that time she had stopped crying. Wil was already in his room packing, as he surmised that they were going to leave today. He heard some gentle sobbing, which could only have been from Rebecca, but Wil decided to leave it.

In the infirmary Farina woke up again, looking around to see only Geitz still sleeping. Wondering where Karla could have gone, she put her boots on and left the infirmary. When she arrived at the inn Karla was already in their room packing. They arranged to leave immediately and packed quickly.

In the lobby of the inn Farina and Karla ran into Dart, Wil, Geitz and Rebecca who also packed and ready to depart.

"So we're off to Sacae and Ilia!" Farina announced to them, deceptively.

"Oh yeah, we're off to Pherae!" Dart told her.

"I guess this is goodbye" Farina said to them. They exchanged goodbyes and walked out of the inn towards the gates, while Dart and Geitz stopped to rent a transporter cart and horses.

* * *

**-**In a castle somewhere in Lycia-

Meanwhile, in one of the many abandoned castles that exist in Lycia a meeting of sorts was underway. A Hero was sitting on a rickety chair, next to a rickety table. Also with him were a few assorted warriors, talking in a low voice.

"Bring him in!" the Hero shouted to his men. In a few moments an archer limped in, supported by two mercenaries.

"This is the guy I told ya abou'" One of the seated men stated, smiling grimly.

"And what information does he have?" The Hero asked apprehensively. "Has Blaz tracked down the pirates who attacked my ship?"

"Well.. uhh sir.. he did, and uhh… he tried to attack them himself…" The archer said, trying to ignore his fear, but failing miserably.

"And?" The Hero asked impatiently.

"He didn't win the battle…" The archer trailed off. The only female at the table turned away and shook silently, while the archer mentally pleaded with them: Don't stab the messenger, Don't stab the messenger.

"Do not grieve, he died protecting the freedom of others…" the Hero said with little emotion, trying to console the swordmaster, who was now sobbing freely into her hands. "We must hunt down these evil warriors, we will make an honourable name for ourselves, and our family…" The Hero continued, with a rant he had wanted to express for a while. "Especially if we want to reinstate … the Black Fang…"

"Cousin…!" The young woman said aghast, lifting her head.

* * *

Oooh the inklings of what some might call a plot! But that was pretty short as my chapters go... 

**To the Reviewers:**

**Lemurian-Girl: **Thanks, I really appreciate your reviews because you reviewed from the start.

**Nightmare3: **Uhh RavenxKarla? Well in my plan (I actually decided to make one rather than making it up as I go along, which is what I do normally) Raven isn't going to be joining them, besides I have a special role for Raven to fill… Thanks for the suggestion though!

**ManaMage:** lol, but harsh! Thanks, I actually found the battle scene really boring to write. It took me about four nights, because I'd do a paragraph and then get sidetracked. Thanks for reviewing, since the first chapter.

**Daniel Chen: **Really? Thanks! Yeah, here was the last place I expected to be writing too, but really I didn't expect I'd be into writing at all… I mean when I have to write a creative story for English it takes me ages, but when I do it for fun I can write a lot and not get bored… sorry I've rattled on…

I really appreciate your reviews (Don't read, and not review, please!), they make me feel like writing more, and if you have the time/patience, check out my new fic – Eli Wood, the creation of several sugar highs… don't ask, just read! So R&R!


	7. Nosferatu

To start off with I'd like to apologize about the wait in between updates, I have a lot more homework now for some reason and I'm making my own Fire Emblem website for IT! It's going to have stuff on FE7 and then I'm going to add stuff on FE8. Anyway:

Uhh I know I said that Raven would be appearing soon, but I changed some stuff so maybe in a few chapters there'll be a cameo fest…

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Nosferatu**

-In a castle in Lycia-

"General Borz! We have received information from a spy!" A soldier shouted into the meeting room, effectively halting the heated argument between the Hero and his cousin. "They've spotted the group that killed your brother!"

Technically Borz wasn't a General by any description, but enjoyed the sound of it and forced his soldiers to refer to him as such. Borz rose from the table and walked out, closely followed by his cousin.

"Cousin this is madness! Have my words no effect on your obstinacy? The Black Fang is finished, did you not see the evils that our members had done? The Black Fang is now synonymous with cruelty, and dishonour." The swordmaster argued, as she walked beside Borz.

"We must do what we can to stop evil, if we eliminate these warriors then surely our good reputation will be restored. In the name of The Black Fang!" He finished resoundingly and walked away. "Send the nearest Black Fang members to create an ambush." Borz ordered.

"As you wish General, they will be ready as soon as possible." The soldier said, jogging away.

"No! Do not listen to him! His judgement is clouded!" The swordmaster shouted at the retreating soldier, futilely. She leant on the wall and stared at Borz, giving out orders.

* * *

-Outside Badon-

Just a few kilometres outside of Badon, on the road that lead towards Laus, A cart was being pulled along in the midday sun. Dart, who, as a pirate, was used to harsh sunlight, was sitting in the front. He accompanied by Wil, who was outside just to avoid Rebecca. Wil wasn't too sure what he had done to annoy Rebecca, but with the sly looks Dart was giving him, he was sure he was going to find out.

In the back of the caravan Rebecca and Geitz were sitting in relative silence. Rebecca was facing backwards, with her legs dangling over the edge, while Geitz was lying down, his back on a sack of rice.

"Geitz…" Rebecca said, trying to start some conversation. "Geitz?". He snorted a little and turned to her.

"Rebecca." He replied shortly.

"Geitz, what's it like in Bulgar?" Rebecca asked him curiously.

"Oh Bulgar…" Geitz said, with a note of sorrow in his voice "Well it's got a pretty good climate…"

"I meant, what is it like living in Bulgar? What's your family like?" Rebecca explained. Geitz turned away.

"I really don't want to talk about my family… Feel free to tell me about yours, though" Geitz said, with a forced smile.

"Oh Ok, where should I begin…." Rebecca begun. Outside Wil and Dart were still sitting in silence until Wil decided to break it.

"So Dart, what did Rebecca say anyway?" He said, trying to sound casual, but not really pulling it off.

"We had a good talk…" Dart teased. Wil was trying to fight the urge to shake him senseless.

"And?" Wil pre-empted impatiently, giving up trying to sound offhand.

"She was upset at you 'cause of somethin' you did" Dart said slyly.

"Something I did?... Did she say what?" Wil asked thoughtfully.

"Uhhh no" Dart said hesitantly. The reasoning behind this response is easily explained: As a new brother, he was beginning to feel the pull of protectiveness.

"Really? She didn't tell her big brother anything?" Wil asked, sceptically.

"No" Dart said more firmly.

"Oh okay… maybe I should go apologize?" Wil suggested.

"Yarr! That's a good idea! Go talk to her!" Dart said happily (He hadn't got the hang of the protective brother thing yet). In the back of the caravan Rebecca had finally got Geitz to talk about his family.

"I really miss them." He finished. "Especially Nan-Nan and Grampy."

"They sound like really nice people, I miss my family too, I really miss talking to them about nothing at all…" Rebecca said, gazing out into the distance.

"Well I mostly miss having someone to do stuff for me, but I like talking to them as well." Geitz said, but Rebecca wasn't really listening, in fact her trained eyes had spotted a weird shape in the sky.

"Hmm… look at that!" Rebecca said, pointing.

-In Badon-

In Badon, Farina and Karla were about to set off again, this time with a stranger. They had left earlier, but Karla's leg injury had began to ache after a while and they were forced to return to the infirmary. The priest had healed her quickly and they bought some forgotten supplies.

In the item shop, however, they ran into a young mage by the name of Leo.

"Hello, My name is Leo, I'm one of Captain Fargus' band." He had greeted them, as they were browsing the healing items. "Are you Farina, and Karla.

"Hello Leo, yes I'm Farina and this Karla, How are you?" Farina said, turning around.

"I'm very well thankyou. May I inquire as to your health?" Leo said awkwardly. When he was faced with a social situation Leo tended to make his speech very formal.

"We're well too." Karla answered for them

"So Leo, are you still helping Captain Fargus?" Farina asked him, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Actually I've taken leave, I'm going to travel for a year" Leo replied with some confidence.

"Really? We're travelling too, to uhhh Sacae and Ilia." Farina said, resignedly lying to him.

"Actually I plan to travel to the Nabata Desert." Leo said, unaware that that was the probable destination of Farina and Karla.

"Oh" Karla stated simply.

"I was wondering whether I could accompany you then, if you are travelling to the north. Even for a short way, as I believe there is great strength in company. I am accomplished in natural magic and could aid you." Leo rambled, trying to justify his joining.

"Of course you can join us Leo! We'd be glad to have a magic user come with us, but we'd probably have to leave you near Santaruz." Farina offered generously.

"Thankyou very much Farina, Karla. I have bought a horse, so you need not worry about transport. I would be glad to take Karla on my horse, if your Pegasus is tired." Leo offered in return.

"Murphy doesn't mind carrying Karla, she likes her." Farina said, patting Murphy, who was standing next to them. Karla smiled at them for a moment.

"I too like Murphy" Karla put in. "We should prepare to leave now" she added, grabbing a small bag, which contained her possessions.

Farina quickly mounted Murphy in quick jump, and leant a hand for Karla to get on. Leo mounted his horse in a very awkward manner, throwing a hand over the horse's flank and sliding on.

Together they began to trot out of the town.

-Outside Badon-

In the caravan, Rebecca realised that the weird shape in the sky was actually a Pegasus knight. It was at the moment of realisation that the pre-planned ambush began. Two archers, still hidden in the shrubs that lined the road, fired at the horses, but instead of stopping as they expected them to, they immediately bolted.

The increase in speed was so great that Rebecca, who had been sitting on the back of the cart, was thrown off with a scream.

"Rebecca!" Wil shouted, attempting to jump off the cart himself, unlike Dart, who had the presence of mind to try and slow the horses. Geitz, who had just managed to hold on to the cart by grabbing the sack of rice he was lying on, pulled out his hand axe.

As he did so several brigands, swordspeople and magic users jumped out of the bushes brandishing their weapons. Dart had managed to calm down the horses and the cart came to a halt, but Rebecca was surrounded. Geitz hurled his hand axe at the closest warrior, who reacted slowly and received its full force in the chest. He pulled out his Killer bow and hastily grabbed an arrow, while jumping from the cart.

Wil loosed an arrow while running and it struck another swordsman, injuring him. The remaining warriors advanced on Rebecca, while Dart ran to the back of the cart and grabbed his Swordslayer as well as a steel axe.

"Who are these people?" He shouted at no-one in particular.

"Silence! You are to be dealt the Black Fang's justice" The head mercenary ordered, raising his blade above Rebecca.

"No!" Wil shouted, firing an arrow at him. It struck the mercenary in the shoulder, so violently he fell backwards. The other soldiers attacked as one, taking the felling of their leader as their cue.

The enemy archers fired into the air, forcing everyone to keep an eye on the air above them, while the mage and the shaman added their spells. The warriors ran forwards and Dart and Geitz found themselves hopelessly outnumbered.

Wil ran back to the cart and lifted a Swordreaver with difficulty. He threw it to Geitz who caught it effortlessly and used the momentum to bear down on a myrmidon. Wil leapt up into the cart and continued to fire arrows at the enemy, while Geitz and Dart fought their way into the centre of the fray, where Rebecca was trying to evade the swords of the less honourable members of the Black Fang.

In the sky, the shape that Rebecca realised was a Pegasus knight, was in fact three and they attempted to enter the fray, but a well shot arrow from Wil struck one off her mount. Rebecca shot another, before having to dodge the lance of the last.

Dart and Geitz stood around her protecting her from the attacks of the swordsmen, while Rebecca fired through any gaps with her bow. The last Pegasus knight fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

The shaman saw that Rebecca was trapped and took the opportunity to cast Nosferatu to gain some more energy. The spell hit its mark and Rebecca could feel the rune draining the energy out of her body. It rose in dark streaks and returned to the shaman.

Rebecca tried to lift herself, but the ground was strangely sticky and held her fast. She tried to scream, but it only came out as an inaudible gurgle, which muffled by the Pegasus knight on top of her.

Just outside Rebecca's range of vision, Dart and Geitz were slowly being moved towards the cart with every attack. With each minute a few more soldiers would fall, until Dart and Geitz found themselves with their back against the cart, a hundred metres or so, from Rebecca.

"Where's Rebecca!" Geitz shouted over the fighting.

"OhHH! -" There followed a string of curses as Dart expressed his frustration. He threw his axe in the air and caught it, using the momentum of the axe to slam it into the nearest swordsman.

Next to Rebecca, a few soldiers were moving the dead Pegasus, in an attempt to get to her. Dart and Geitz tried to break through the group of warriors in front of them, but it was too late, the soldiers had moved the Pegasus and had found Rebecca.

One of the soldiers flashed Rebecca an almost toothless grin and picked her up. Again Rebecca tried to scream and this time she was a little more successful, emitting an odd honking sound. The soldier began to take off her armour and she honked again, unable to do anything else.

"Elfire!" Leo called out from the distance and the soldier next to her burst into flames, as though he was coated in oil. The soldier holding Rebecca suddenly jerked, as Farina's Killer lance burst through his chest, barely missing Rebecca.

Karla jumped off the Pegasus and slashed at the last mercenary, who collapsed where he stood.

By the cart Dart and Geitz both drove their axes into the last soldier and Wil shot the last archer. They leant back on the cart, exhausted while Farina, Karla, Leo and Rebecca, who was on Leo's horse, approached them.

"Thanks for the help, how's Rebecca?" Wil asked them quickly when they came within earshot.

"I'm not sure" Farina said, almost apologetically.

"Well let's get some elixir into her" Dart advised, walking over to Leo's horse. Leo slid off and they took Rebecca off the horse. Together they took her over to the cart and placed her on a mat. Wil grabbed an elixir out of a bag and poured some into Rebecca's mouth, then set about making a bed for her.

"Pherae, huh?" Farina asked Dart, sceptically.

"Uhh Yes, we're going to Pherae." Dart confirmed. Geitz placed a hand over his face."

"So why then are you on the road to Santaruz?" Farina continued.

"Err.. This is the road to Santaruz?" Dart asked, attempting to feign ignorance.

"Mmhmm" Farina said, nodding.

"Oh I guess we took the wrong road then…" Dart continued.

"Mmhmm" Farina said again, with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay well I guess we'll be going now… that way" Dart said pointing back down the road. "Good bye Farina, Karla, Leo". He jumped into the front of the cart again while Geitz and Wil said their goodbyes.

Gahh Farina, he thought angrily, Why'd she have to be on this road? Damn Farina… though she is damn hot! He shook his head, as if to clear it of such thoughts, while Wil clambered back into the cart. He sent Geitz to get a vulnerary and some buckets for the horses and quickly removed the arrows from the horses.

Geitz returned grumbling and threw two buckets in front of the horses with some water in them. Dart poured some of the vulnerary into the buckets, and the horses quickly drank it, their small wounds sealing themselves. Waving goodbye to Karla, Farina and Leo, Dart turned the cart around and they made their way back to the town.

After ten minutes they reached the town and Dart and Geitz went to the back of the cart to check on Rebecca. She was regaining some energy and could move a little.

"Rebecca are you alrigh'?" Dart asked the limp archer.

"I've been better" She croaked.

"Well so long as you're okay…?" Geitz started, but trailed off when Rebecca lay back on the makeshift bed and closed her eyes.

"I'm just resting" Rebecca said, in barely a whisper.

"Okay, you know we met Farina an' Karla an' that magic guy, Leo and we went back to Badon. So do we keep goin' towards Pherae and then go to Santaruz, or do we turn around again?" Dart asked them all.

"Let's go to Pherae" Rebecca rasped. "Actually go there…"

"Uhh" Dart said, ineffectually trying to fight the persuasiveness of his little sister.

"Please?" Rebecca gasped, turning to face Dart.

"Ohh Fine, Yarr, I told you not to use that look again!" Dart conceded angrily. Rebecca smiled and went back to sleep. They left down the road which led directly to Pherae and travelled for some time, almost 6 hours before the sun began to set.

In the cart Rebecca stirred a little. She felt unbelievably cold, despite the layers of blanket on top of her. Wil was still sleeping against the wall, while Rebecca looked around for some blankets.

"Sooo Cold." She said shivering. Rebecca crawled over to Wil dragging her blankets along with her. She nestled up against him, covering them both with blankets and pressing against him.

* * *

Wil's in for an awkward situation when he wakes up! Hehehe…

**To the Reviewers:**

**Lemurian-Girl: **Thanks, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, I kinda changed the plot so, no that wasn't Raven. As for re-instating the Black Fang, well I wanted some enemy so…

**ManaMage:** Wow… Thanks! Yeah I really like their relationship, for that same reason. It's a lot more interesting than a lot of other supports.

**Nightmare3: **No I most certainly did not… well okay I wanted Rebecca to kick Wil (a la 'B' Support) but not in the stomach again, so that was the first thing that came to mind (Originally he was going to be like: "You kicked me in the stomach… again"). Thanks, uhh a bag of sugar?… bad memories….

**SweetMisery430: **Thanks! I agree, Wil and Rebecca is a great pairing. Actually I only chose it because it was the only in-game pairing I could have with Rebecca, but after reading their supports I decided to stick with it.

I'll try really hard to finish the next chapter soon, but the more reviews I get, the more time I'll spend on this. R&R if you want to see how this turns out…!


	8. A Frumpy Dart

To start off with, my latest chapters have been getting sloppier, so I hope you didn't mind me taking some time to write, but I promise I won't take this long. Also, I have camp this weekend and next week so I'll only be able to update next weekend.

Anyway, seeing as I forgot to include it in the last chapters: I don't own Fire Emblem or any of the characters.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – A Frumpy Dart**

-Near Santaruz-

After some muttered complaints from the young blond mage, Farina and Karla decided to stop for the night in a cosy clearing, near a small stream. Leo thankfully grabbed his bags from his horse, before tying it to a tree with a long rope. He quickly shoved some sticks into the ground, threw an oilskin over the top and flung himself under his makeshift tent with his sleeping bag.

"Uhh OK…?" Farina mumbled after Leo dove into his tent. "I'll set up the tent, and care for Murphy, can you get some firewood for us?" She asked Karla, who was staring into the distance.

"Uhh sure…" Karla said, before heading off into the failing light. Farina took their bags off Murphy and tossed them onto the grass. She took a long length of rope out and used it to tie Murphy to the tree. She also took two small buckets from the bag, filled them with water and gave them to Murphy and Leo's horse.

A few metres away, Karla spotted a fallen mouldy log and propped it against another tree, before using an iron sword to break the log apart. She took them back to the clearing, where Farina had finished making their tent and they both went in search of some twigs.

"You do know that taking Leo to Santaruz will take us off our journey for a while?" Karla asked Farina, while they examined the area for some sticks.

"Yes, but don't forget that Dart and Rebecca had to go towards Pherae for a while." Farina said, mischievously. Karla merely smiled.

* * *

-Somewhere south of Santaruz-

It wasn't the movement that roused Wil, but the lack of it; the cart had come to a sudden halt. Wil didn't open his eyes straight away, but spent that moment wondering why there was pressure on his right arm, perhaps a sack had slid onto him? He opened his eyes to find that the pressure on his arm wasn't a sack at all, and nearly screamed, but instead made a bizarre squeak.

This squeak woke Rebecca, but she just stirred, squeezing Wil like a teddy bear.

"Uh Rebecca?" He whispered, so softly that even he couldn't hear it. She groaned a little and pressed even closer into him. With a great deal of embarrassment Wil realised that she didn't have her breastplate on. He felt his heart beat faster and his muscles tensed.

Do something, Do _Something_, A hitherto unknown part of Wil's mind pleaded. You've got the love of your life snuggled up next you, do something! But that's sic--

Unfortunately for Wil, Geitz chose that exact moment to fling open the cart door. He paused for a moment, as he stared at Rebecca pressed into a guilty, red-faced Wil. Geitz raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

Although this reduced the embarrassment of the situation a little, Wil was a bit angry that he didn't get an opportunity to laugh it off.

"Uhh bad timing…. ?" Wil said half-heartedly. Geitz raised his other eyebrow and grabbed some bags and buckets.

"What's bad timi… What. Ar'. You. Doing." Dart said menacingly, picking up an axe.

"Uh D-Dart I… It was… uhh she was cold and…. I-I-" Wil faltered mid sentence at Dart's death glare. "I was a source of warmth… and maybe comfort…" Wil trailed off.

"Please get off my sister when ye say tha'" Dart said coldly. He decided for the time being to leave Wil alone, but another time… Dart turned on the spot and walked away with his axe swinging in his hand.

Geitz chuckled from next to a tree, but hastily began putting up the tent when he saw Dart's expression.

Dart headed off into the woods and began chopping wood glaring at it, as though each log had tried to hit on his sister. At the camp, Wil got out of the cart nervously, after making sure that Dart wasn't in the vicinity. He rubbed his arm for a moment, before helping Geitz with the tent.

"Eh heh… so…" Wil began sheepishly.

"So?" Geitz questioned, shortly and a little amusedly.

"Well you… I wasn't… oh whatever" Wil gave up trying to ineffectually convince Geitz of his innocence and instead grabbed more of his belongings out of the cart. Geitz continued to put up the tent, sniggering, while Wil stumbled over with his bags. Just then Dart returned, with a large armful of wood and a slightly less hate-filled look. Wil dived into the newly erected tent, dragging a bag behind him, while Dart dumped his wood elsewhere with an almighty CLUNK and began loudly throwing logs into a fire-pit.

This, of course, woke up Rebecca, who walked shakily over to him.

"Dart… do you have to make so much noise…?" She said slowly.

"Rebecca! You're awake! How do ye feel?" Dart asked her, with a note of concern in his voice.

"I'm okay, but why do you look so frumpy?" Rebecca replied, commenting on Dart's comical anger.

"Uh no-- no reason, well apart from this blasted fire!" Dart said. Rebecca smiled weakly and pulled out a flint.

"Let me help you" She offered, and quickly lit the fire. She laid back on the grass in front of the fire and basked in the warmth. Geitz strolled over and sat next to her.

"Where's Wil?" Rebecca wondered aloud, noticing that Dart's face darkened a little when she asked that. Or did it redden?

"I hope Wil's okay…" Rebecca said, this time focusing on Dart. Wow, she thought, his face both darkened and reddened… so it marooned?...hee hee

"Is Wil okay?" Rebecca asked Dart.

"I'm sure he's fine." Dart said shortly.

"Is there food?" Geitz asked no-one in particular. "Dart bring us some food". Dart rolled his eyes before heading off to the cart. Rebecca took the opportunity to find out where Wil was.

"Where is Wil?" She asked softly.

"He's in the tent, but don't you know what he did? He tried to-- take advantage of you in your weakness" Geitz said equally softly, sounding like a gossiping middle-aged woman.

"Wil! Take advantage of anyone?" Rebecca scoffed. "Wil's the most uptight person I know!". With that she walked over to the tent, where Wil was currently sitting listening to every word. And although he was glad that Rebecca believed he was innocent, Wil was more than a little shaken by her choice of words.

Uptight, he asked himself, Me? He was interrupted from his silent denial by Rebecca's entrance.

"Hello Rebecca" He greeted.

"Wil, what are you doing in here? The fire's been lit, come outside with me." Rebecca said, gesturing outside.

"Uhhh" Wil paused for a moment trying to think of a credible reason to not go outside, but couldn't see any reason to spend more time in a dark smelly tent than next to a fire with Rebecca. "Yes of course…"

Outside Dart returned carrying a small sack, containing some salted meats, and a loaf of bread. He had already put some meat on a stick, when he realised that Rebecca wasn't there.

"Where's Rebecca?" Dart asked Geitz, who was rubbing his hands. Geitz gestured wordlessly to the tent and Dart turned around to see Rebecca and Wil emerge. He glared at Wil and drummed his fingers on the handle of his axe. Wil noticed Dart's glare and moved a metre or so away from Rebecca. Dart gave an almost unnoticeable nod at this and went back to putting up meat on a sticks to roast.

They sat down on the grass next to Geitz, but at a growl from Dart, Wil moved to the other side of Geitz.

* * *

-Near Santaruz-

Meanwhile, at Farina's camp, Farina and Karla were trying to make a fire themselves, but it was proving exceedingly difficult to find their flint in the dark.

"I could swear it's in this bag" Farina said angrily, as she dove once more into her bag.

"We could just wake up Leo and ask him to perform a fire spell…" Karla suggested.

"Yeah okay, now I'll just make the sticks into a pile, while you go and wake him up." Farina bargained.

"…" Karla didn't say anything.

"Okay we'll both wake him up." Farina agreed. "Where are you though, I can barely see a thing."

"I'm over here, follow my voice." Karla said calmly.

"Okay… Oof!" Farina gasped, as she walked straight into Karla. They walked in what they guessed was the direction of Leo's tent.

"Uhh Leo…" Farina started. "Could we ge-- oahh!" she exclaimed as the tripped over one of Leo's bags. She fell into Karla, who quickly caught her, but their combined momentum toppled Karla over as well. They both ended up falling into Leo's tent, thankfully avoiding being impaled upon on of the sticks.

"Is it dawn already?" A sleepy and somewhat muffled voice came from beneath Farina and Karla.

"Uhh no…" Karla said, as they got off the poor mage.

"Ok then… … …" Leo mumbled, drifting back into sleep despite the lack of a tent.

"Leo… Leo!" Farina shouted, prodding him.

"What.. What!" The mage growled as he awoke.

"Could you start a fire?" Karla asked.

"Alright, but next time could you just shake me or something?" Leo joked "Did any of you bring a lantern here?". Farina looked dismayed.

"I knew there was something I forgot…" She said.

"Okay, well then let's try and work our way back" Leo said unnecessarily. He promptly walked into a tree. "Ow!" He said rubbing his nose.

"Here it is!" Karla called out, ignoring Leo.

"Okay so can you cast fire?" Farina prompted.

"Sure… If I have my tome…" Leo said, jokingly, looking into his cloak. Farina visibly relaxed when the young mage pulled out a hard red book.

"Okay and… Fire." Leo said softly. A tiny flame blossomed in the centre of the woodpile before dissolving into thin air.

"Maybe you should try again." Karla suggested.

"Okay… Fire!" Leo shouted and the firewood burst into flame.

"Better." Karla said, impressed. They sat in front of the flames and rested for a few minutes.

"So… Let's see what we have to eat…" Farina said.

"I have enough travellers' rations for all of us… but it's not very appetising." Leo offered.

"Well actually I'm sure we have some salted meat" Farina answered. They quickly ate and headed off to their tents as soon as possible.

* * *

-Dart's camp-

At Dart's camp, Geitz had already fallen asleep, while Wil, Rebecca and Dart, who was choosing to ignore Wil, were talking next to the fire.

"You know I still wonder why those people ambushed us like that…" Rebecca pondered.

"They said something about the Black Fang." Wil said. Suddenly the fire didn't seem as warm.

"The Black Fang… I though' we…" Dart began, but paused to think of a way to end the sentence.

"We did. Maybe these people are impostors… or the remaining Black Fang troops?" Wil suggested.

"This is kinda worrying, maybe they're attacking the other members of our army, you know… revenge." Rebecca put in. Dart swallowed.

* * *

Whew… so ill….

**To the Reviewers:**

**Lemurian-Girl: **Thanks. yep Farina's slowly driving Dart off the edge. Slowly…

**ManaMage: **I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks, why yes… I am… uhh shhh…

**Sam: **Thanks. I understand your confusion, so I'll clarify it: Farina's plan isn't really to steal the map, but to get Dart to willingly give her a longer look at it. So she made the decision to… uhh seduce him, for want of a better word. It's better than just asking for it, because this way Dart wouldn't tell anyone else.

**Nightmare3: **I guess I did rush it a bit… Thanks. A perverted old man huh... that just about sums up most Nintendo artists. As for your nose, just try and crack it back into place…

**Northernsword (Chapter 1):** Uhh Thanks?...

Thank you all for reviewing! Now I was wondering if you help me a little more: Could you please tell me who your top 10 favourite characters are?. In case you're wondering, this has absolutely nothing to do with this fic, so you can give it in a review…

Please do so, because it will probably the basis for a new fic I'm writing… so if you want your favourite characters in another fic…

R&R!


	9. Reunions

I wrote a lot of this before life became unbearably busy with school, exams and moving house. However, I'm on holiday now so I'll be able to update some more. (If I'm allowed to go on the internet). Sorry for the (extreme) lateness of this update.

I don't own Fire Emblem or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Reunions**

-On the road to Pherae-

Despite the earliness, Dart and co. were preparing to leave for Pherae almost immediately after sunrise. Rebecca was feeling a lot better and cheerful, but was finding herself surprisingly alone in that respect.

"Wil what's wrong?" She asked a serious Wil "Didn't you sleep enough?"

"No I slept enough…." Wil mumbled trailing off into a sleepy silence. Although the concern in her voice cheered him up considerably, he was still seemed troubled.

"Dart are you okay?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeh, I'm fine…" Dart replied in a very similar manner to Wil.

"What's going on?" Rebecca asked, a little frustrated with the two of them. Neither answered.

"I know what it is. They're two grown men afraid of going home." Geitz mocked from a little way away. Rebecca giggled a little and Wil and Dart turned around and returned to packing up their belongings.

"Aww you two… I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you." Rebecca consoled. They quickly packed and headed out with only a few minutes of moping.

* * *

-The New Black Fang Headquarters-

"We need a greater army!" Borz shouted, his voice filling the hall. All heads turned to him after his sudden outburst. "Well… we do."

He span around as a dry laugh rang out behind him, from a man who was standing quite calmly behind him. The man had long lavender hair which came down to his waist and was tied back with a strip of purple cloth. A scar streaked down from the centre of his forehead to his right cheek, running in parallel to a smaller scar just above. Borz gaped a little before addressing the man.

"Hurricane! I thought you left" Borz said, with all the offhandedness he could muster.

"There is a life after the Black Fang, you know all about it – or at least you would …" Hurricane, who is better known as Legault, said slowly. Borz ran a hand through his short brown hair, as if a little ashamed.

"Hurricane, are you telling me that you don't want to be part of this… this honour?" Borz asked pridefully.

"No." Legault said simply. Borz was left speechless for a moment, and he felt his hand twitch automatically for the sword strapped to his back. "The Black Fang is dead… we can't go back."

"Traitor…" Borz breathed softly. Legault merely stared at him. Borz's hand suddenly whipped to his sword and Legault jumped out of the way of his first swing.

"Grrahhh!" Borz grunted as he swung again, missing the nimble thief by a hair. Legault gave a little laugh at his antics.

"Looks like I have a new enemy, What a pity!" He said jokingly. Borz glared for a second, rage building up in his veins, then attacked again. This time bearing down with his sword- on thin air, Legault having spun to the side at the last moment. Borz quickly followed up with an upwards slash, which, this time, was blocked by one of Legault's daggers.

Borz, who still did not see the futility of attacking an opponent who could dodge all his blows, slashed again and again, carving the air with his broad sword, but not touching Legault.

All activity in the hall had ceased, as everyone was glued to the disrespect-building sight of their general attacking wildly, and missing every time.

* * *

-Near Pherae-

The cart was close to Pherae now, and inside the tension inside Wil was now building up into a suffocating ball in his throat. Rebecca, of course, was happily oblivious to this and humming softly to herself, her legs dangling off the back of the cart. Dart too seemed highly strung at the moment, and when a small animal moved inside a bush, he started and nearly fell off. Geitz laughed quite a bit at this and only stopped when Dart smacked him over the head.

Soon enough they could see the castle in the background and the small villages of Pherae in the foreground. Wil's small ball of tension had now worked its way into his stomach and seemed to have doubled in size. He hadn't seen his parents for more than five years. What if they didn't want to see him? This thought only served to make the ball writhe around, churning his insides.

They stopped by a stream near the coast to let the horses refresh themselves and Dart, who had decided that it would be good to see his parents again (Rebecca had been working hard for a hour or so), and Rebecca entered the back to escape the harsh sun.

Dart was displaying his happiness and tension by drumming a tattoo on the floor of the cart, while Wil seemed to be curling up into a ball himself. Geitz was outside shooting fish with his bow for fun and Rebecca was calmly sitting on the edge, humming again.

"It will be nice to see my mother!" Dart announced out of the blue. Rebecca stopped humming as suddenly as though she had inhaled the last note. Wil sprang out of his curled position. Even Geitz stopped fishing and walked back to the cart, but that was more a case of brilliant timing than surprise or concern.

Wil glanced at Rebecca with a look that clearly accused: "You didn't tell him!", Rebecca appealed for help with her eyes. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Rebecca spoke.

"Uhhh Dart?" She began, even though she was unsure of how to proceed. Dart caught her tone, incorrectly, and replied with sarcasm.

"Yes, Mother?" Dart asked wearily. Rebecca and Wil both winced at the name.

"Uh Dart you see ... Mother…" She paused here, then decided break it to him. "Mother… passed away. A few years ago…" Rebecca felt vaguely upset too as she told him. Dart froze in mid-beat and his face seemed to darken considerably.

All he said was "Oh.". At this point Geitz jumped into the cart happily and smiled inanely for a moment or two before he saw Rebecca and Wil's faces. Dart jumped out and started pushing the horses back into their places. The rest of the journey was passed in absolute silence, but inside Dart several emotions were raging.

The first was extreme sorrow at the loss of a mother he couldn't even remember, the second was surprisal that he felt so sad for the loss of a mother he didn't even know he had until a few months ago, the third was bitterness at the betrayal by Rebecca and Wil, and the fourth, by no means the weakest, was the excitement and tension he had been feeling for quite a while.

Rebecca was a little upset by Dart's reaction. While she hadn't imagined he'd be at all happy, she didn't expect he would take the news so hard. Wil had resumed his foetal position with renewed tension.

Eventually they reached their village. Dart was greeted by a balding man with a large brown moustache and a kindly face.

"Welcome to our humble vil-…" He broke off as he studied Dart's face. At this moment Rebecca jumped out of the back and ran up to the man.

"Father!" She screamed in delight.

"Rebecca, my girl!" Rebecca's father, who was also the village magistrate, greeted her. By this time Geitz and Wil had jumped out as well and came over to the front. Dart was still sitting in the driver's seat, unsure of what to do.

"Wil? … Is that… It can't be… Wil?" Rebecca's father said, staring at Wil, amazed.

"Actually this _is_ Wil, Father!" Rebecca said brightly, "And this is Geitz and-"

"Dan?… " Rebecca's father whispered so softly that no one really heard it.

"Dart!" Rebecca finished.

"Oh I thought… Never mind. A foolish old man's sight…" He mumbled. "Are you a- a pirate?" He asked Dart.

"Oh yes, a regular scourge of the sea!" Dart answered. It was a joke, of course, but no one laughed apart from Dart himself and he quickly stopped.

"I see…" Rebecca's father said slowly and seriously, before turning to Geitz, "Are you a pirate too?"

"No… sir." Geitz addressed him, in a manner reminiscent of a schoolboy.

"Father, Geitz is from a Sacaen merchant family" Rebecca put in, anxious to make a good impression.

"Well, why are we standing around in the middle of the village? You must come to the house.". Rebecca's father said jovially. It wasn't a suggestion, so they followed him, Dart leading the horses and cart. Rebecca fell back and walked with him, while Wil was chatting to Rebecca's father about local affairs.

"Why didn' you tell Father that… I'm Dan?" Dart asked Rebecca furtively. Rebecca looked ahead for a moment.

"Well I didn't know how to say that our long-lost Dan is back." Rebecca said.

"Tha' was fine!" Dart exclaimed. Ahead Wil stopped in his tracks, at a statement from Rebecca's father.

Nearby a man stood out of sight behind a few carelessly placed boxes. He had been staring out at the cart and it's occupants for some time now. Now that they were leaving, he ran away. His master would be very pleased with this piece of information.

* * *

-Santaruz-

"Wow! This town has nothing!" Leo said with sarcastic enthusiasm. Although Farina didn't enjoy his sarcasm, he was quite correct. The town of Santaruz seemed only to consist of a couple of dusty armouries and a single dingy inn. In the early morning light, everything was shadowed by the large fortress-like castle to the west.

They had risen at dawn, and rode the short distance to the town in less than an hour. Now Farina, Karla and Leo were standing in the rather barren town of Santaruz.

"Well I guess this is goodbye" Leo said, with a hint of sorrow. Farina and Karla realised the predicament they were in. They needed to travel towards Ostia, and Leo was too. They were in a race, yet they needed to stay well behind Leo, at least until Laus, where they might be able to slip past him. Still they walked to the inn.

* * *

At the same time two men were walking towards the lobby. They had evidently been resting in the inn.

"I don't understand why we need to leave so quickly." One man was saying to the other. "It's not like we're going to find anyone."

"Well we have to try to find them at least." The other responded. "It's _imperative_ that we find them."

"Okay, we'll look but I doubt-" The door opened and Karla walked in. "Ohh!" He ran up to her. "Such awe-inspiring be-"

"Sain! I'd say I was pleasantly surprised, but…" Karla said nonchalantly.

"Karla!" Kent said walking over to her "Well met!"

"Hello, Kent!" Karla greeted.

"Karla, are you travelling with anyone?" Kent asked.

"Well there's this mage. And Farina of course" Karla said a little cautiously.

"Farina? That's wonderful news!" Sain exclaimed.

"I don't follow you." Karla said. Nor do I want to, she thought. Farina and Leo walked in after a few moments.

"Kent! Sain… What are you doing here?" Farina said happily.

"Well to be blunt, it's about your sister, Florina." Kent said. The smile on Farina's face froze. "She's getting married!"

"Get OUT OF HERE!" Farina squealed.

"Uhhh" Kent wavered.

"Florina's getting married? My little Florina?" Farina screamed.

"Yes" Sain said simply.

"No WAY! To who?" Farina said, her initial surprise fading.

"Hector" Sain said

"Hector? As in Lord Hector of Ostia? As in the fabulously wealthy Hector?" Farina demanded. Kent and Sain both nodded. "Really? Wow… so when are they getting married?"

"In about a week's time." Kent said, checking the date.

"A week?" Karla said finally "Can we reach Ostia in a week?"

"Of course, but I believe that Farina and her Pegasus might be able to reach Ostia in three days or so." Kent said.

"Oh, but that would mean…" Farina said hesitantly. Karla turned to her.

"Look you have to be there as soon as possible. This is Florina's wedding we're talking about. She'd be heartbroken if you weren't there for the preparations. Besides, we'll be in Ostia for the wedding, so I'll- We'll meet you then." Karla rationalized.

"Really? You think…" Farina said, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

"Of course!" Karla scolded her. Even Leo nodded, even though he couldn't see what it would achieve.

"Ok then… I'll see you in Ostia!" Farina said, preparing to leave. "Wow, Hector. She must have gotten her good eye from me." She muttered to herself.

Farina walked out of the inn, and the others followed.

"You had better leave straight away" Karla said gently.

"Yes… You're right. Bye everyone!" Farina said, swinging her self onto her Pegasus. "Fly like the wind, Murphy" She muttered to the Pegasus. Murphy galloped forward, gaining speed until it jumped into the air, gliding upwards with a single deft wing movement.

"We should probably leave as well." Karla suggested slowly.

"You there, Leo, Is your horse very fast?" Sain asked. Leo's horse was a large, brown, ancient horse of unknown origin or age.

"Uh not really." Leo said, truthfully.

"Well then you can use our spare horse, and Karla you can ride with me." Sain offered.

I'd rather die, she thought.

"I'd rather di- ride with Kent. His horse has more room." Karla reasoned, correcting herself. Kent and Leo jumped onto their horses, but Sain paused to try and help Karla onto Kent's horse.

"Let me help you." Sain offered. Karla raised an eyebrow, and jumped nimbly onto Kent's horse. They rode off quickly, leaving the town empty and quiet again.

* * *

Once again I apologize for the late update.

**To the Reviewers:**

**Lemurian-Girl:** Well I guess I am I kind of protective younger brother, but it's hard to be protective when you're younger. But I agree, protective brothers ar Thanks for the review.

**Nightmare3: **I guess it was filler-ish, so I hope this chapter has more in the way of plot. Thanks for reviewing.

**ManaMage: **Sorry about the fluff-lessness of this chapter. As for Raven… well he'll be along. Thankyou for reviewing.

**Anonymous: **Thanks for reviewing. Unfortunately I had to ditch that fic idea. It was pretty stupid anyway.

**Daniel Chen: **Oops, sorry I missed your second review. Yeah, the holidays can be tedious at times… Thanks for the reviews.

Oh and sorry about the Florina/Hector thing, it's just a plot event which works well.

R&R!


End file.
